As the 2025 season drew to a close, it seemed like the Atlanta Braves had finally found a stopgap for their shortstop position in Ha-Seong Kim. Unfortunately for the team, Kim has a player option for 2026 and is likely to decline it to hit the open market.

Speculation has flown as to how the Braves will fill the shortstop spot on their roster, with Braves color commentator CJ Nitkowski even alluding to a chance for one of two World Series MVPs in a video posted on X.

In his video, Nitkowski mentioned a variety of shortstop candidates, but there’s one popular theory in particular that he doesn’t think is viable for the team: Bo Bichette.

The Blue Jays’ shortstop has been strong in his six-season career. In 2025, he batted an impressive .311 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs, good for an .840 OPS. Defensively, though, he’s not the strongest, with a career .966 fielding percentage, surrendering 84 errors on 1563 total chances.

Nitkowski argues that, contrary to typical Braves money management, it’s not the size of the contract that’s a turn-off for the team; rather, they’re more concerned with finding a long-term solution, and Bichette isn’t it, especially defensively.

A .966 fielding percentage may seem good for a shortstop, but he had 24 errors in 2021 and 23 in 2022, with an additional 12 in 2025. Bichette struggles immensely pretty much everywhere but the plate, and he’s most certainly not up to the Braves’ standard for middle-infield defense.

The Braves’ color commentator maintains that it’s really not about the money; the Braves, he felt, would take on a larger contract to a player like Corey Seager if the chance arose, as he’s much more of a long-term solution, with a contract lasting through 2031. Seager was the first shortstop that Nitkowski suggested in his rundown.

Simply put, Bichette isn’t a viable long-term solution for the Braves, so it wouldn’t make sense for the Braves to dole out the high-paying contract Bichette is expecting.

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The Atlanta Hawks and the Houston Rockets are getting ready to face each other tonight at State Farm Arena and the starting lineups for both teams were just announced:

G- Trae Young

G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker

F- Zaccharie Risacher

F- Onyeka Okongwu

C- Kristaps Porzingis

Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson won’t play tonight for Atlanta.

G- Reed Sheppard

G- Aaron Holiday

F- Josh Okogie

F- Isaiah Crawford

C- Jeff Green

Earlier this week, the Hawks signed Lamont Butler, M.J. Walker, and Deivon Smith before their third preseason game, but only Butler remains after the Hawks requested waivers on Walker and Smith.

Smith appeared in two games with the Hawks during the NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 14.2 minutes (.600 FG%, 1.000 FT%).

Prior to suiting up for Atlanta’s Summer League team, the Decatur, Georgia, native saw action in 30 games (17 starts) with St. John’s during the 2024-25 season, notching 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 27.1 minutes of play, earning All-MET Honorable Mention.

Over the course of a five-year collegiate career, Smith appeared in 139 games (64 starts), averaging 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 24.8 minutes, suiting up for Mississippi State (2020-21), Georgia Tech (2021-23), Utah (2023-24) and St. John’s (2024-25).

Walker has appeared in two NBA games with the Phoenix Suns during the 2021-22 season on a 10-day contract, making his NBA debut on Dec. 31 at Boston. He has seen action in 132 career NBA G League games (57 starts) across four seasons with the Westchester Knicks (2021-23) and Greensboro Swarm (2023-25), owning averages of 10.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 25.0 minutes (.410 FG%, .375 3FG%, .795 FT%). The 6-5 guard knocked down a career-high 10 three-pointers in a win over Mexico City on Feb. 21, 2025, finishing with 30 points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal in 32 minutes.

A native of Jonesboro, Georgia, Walker appeared in 120 career collegiate games (82 starts) across four seasons at Florida State (2017-21), recording 9.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.3 minutes of play. The two-time All-ACC selection (All-ACC Second Team in 2021, All-ACC Honorable Mention in 2020), finished his Seminole career with 96 wins, the third-most in school history, leading Florida State to three NCAA Tournament appearances in his four seasons (2018, 2019, 2021).

Butler, a member of Atlanta’s NBA 2K26 Summer League 2025 team, appeared in 27 games (all starts) for Kentucky during the 2024-25 season, tallying career highs of 11.4 points, 4.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds, in addition to 1.6 steals in 26.0 minutes (.498 FG%, .391 3FG%, .735 FT%).

A native of Moreno Valley, California, Butler spent his first four collegiate seasons suiting up for San Diego State (2020-24), leading the Aztecs to the 2023 NCAA National Championship Game. He finished his Aztecs career ranked fifth all-time in steals (183), sixth in conference victories (52), ninth in total victories and 10th in assists (338). A three-time Mountain West Conference All-Defensive Team member, Butler was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2023-24.

In five collegiate seasons, Butler appeared in 158 games (129 starts), owning career averages of 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 23.8 minutes (.428 FG%, .333 3FG%, .691 FT%).