Atlanta Hawks 2023-24 Player Review: Bruno Fernando

About 12 months ago, there was some uncertainty about whether Fernando would even be on the roster for 2023-24. Returning to Atlanta in February 2023 in a trade with the Houston Rockets that also brought Garrison Mathews, the Hawks had to decide whether to guarantee the center’s salary that summer.

They did, but only after a brief delay as the Hawks restructured their frontcourt without John Collins after the start of free agency.

Fernando started the season like he did all of his previous seasons as a Hawk except his rookie year in 2019-20, barely seeing minutes – unless of course the outcome of the game had already been decided. been decided. From the start of the season until February 5, Fernando only played at least eight minutes in a game on three occasions.

But due to injuries to Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu during the 2023-2024 period, Fernando has become the nominal backup center. He played an average of 18.7 minutes per game over the final 33 games of the season, only failing to appear in a total of games from February 5 until the end of the season.

Fernando spoke about this uncertainty of playing time during exit interviews, saying: “being able to be ready at any moment. When you look back to September, when we started training camp, to February, when Clint (Capela) got hurt. I had the opportunity to go out and play. There wasn’t really much for me. (…) I was always there all the time to work and find ways to stay engaged and improve.

He displayed a solid command of the dribbling and handoff-oriented offense that Quin Snyder worked to implement in his first full season as head coach. His skills and footwork in the paint sometimes made defenders look absolutely stupid, like during a career-high 25-point night against the Charlotte Hornets in March.

Fernando is also well-versed in the finer details of the modern NBA. He set powerful screens and used his gravity to constantly threaten defenses. Although he wasn’t the tallest center of all time, his combination of strength and motor meant that nothing was ever easy for opposing post players.

Although he’s undersized at 6-foot-9, he limits his ability to fight defensively at the rim — and he tends to get lost in space (along with much of the rest of the team this year). side of the ball) – he was one. of the best third centers in the league last season. It was clearly a luxury to have Fernando available when injuries arose, including during the fateful Play-In Tournament game against the Chicago Bulls.

Overall, Fernando averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds over 15.2 minutes per game, including 60% shooting from inside the arc and a 62% true shooting percentage.

As for his outlook this summer, he is focusing on international play in the days to come. “One of the things I realized about myself early on was that I had to continue to stay in shape,” the center remarked. “As a big guy, that’s probably one of the main things, just staying in shape. This will obviously help me because I have some national team stuff (with the Angolan basketball team) to do for the Olympic qualifiers this summer.

For next season, Fernando has a non-guaranteed contract worth approximately $2.7 million with a decision date of June 29, just days after the conclusion of the draft (with the possibility that date could be at postponed again). While the Hawks are widely expected to select a big pick with the No. 1 overall pick in a month, this could signal his departure from the Hawks for a second time.