Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Hawks Make Key Free Agent Decision With Forward Vit Krejci
Today was an important deadline for the Atlanta Hawks for several reasons. One of them concerned emerging forward Vit Krejci and whether or not to give him a two-way qualifying offer. The Hawks made the easy decision to extend a two-way qualifying offer to Krejci according to Lauren Williams at the AJC, making him a restricted free agent now. Atlanta can now match any offer that another team puts in front of Krejci.
This was a pretty easy decision for the Hawks to make considering how well Krejci played toward the end of the season. Because of the injuries that the Hawks had to the entire team, Krejci was forced to play a lot down the stretch, including starting a few games. He played in 22 games last season, starting 14 of them and averaged 6.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 2.5 APG. He shot 49% from the field, including 41% from three. At 6’8 195 LBS, Krejci became a wing player with size and shooting that the Hawks were lacking. His best performance came in the Hawks huge comeback against the Boston Celtics, a game in which he scored 16 points, including 13 points in one quarter. He was 4-7 from three that night.
What could Krejci’s role be on this team? The Hawks have gotten bigger and better on the wing and at the point of attack through the early parts of this offseason. They drafted Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick and just acquired Dyson Daniels in the Dejounte Murray trade. De’Andre Hunter is still on the team as well. Krejci is young and showed he has potential last season, but it was also in a very small sample size. There is not a clear pathway for him to play a ton of minutes this season, but that could change. I think the Hawks made the right move today by extending him the offer.
The Hawks have been making key decisions today with their free agents. They did not extend a qualifying offer to Saddiq Bey, making him an unrestricted free agent and they picked up the $2.2 million dollar team option for Garrison Matthews, bringing him back for another season. Krejci
Atlanta, GA
4 injured after Delta Air Lines flight aborted during takeoff in Atlanta
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Atlanta, GA
4 passengers injured as hundreds evacuate Delta flight by emergency slide in Atlanta
Hundreds of passengers were forced to evacuate a Delta airlines flight by emergency slides in snowy conditions Friday after an aborted takeoff in Atlanta — leading to at least four injuries and one hospitalization, authorities said.
Roughly 200 people hurriedly deplaned Minneapolis-bound flight 2668 on the tarmac at Atlanta International Airport at 9:10 a.m. due to an engine problem, airline officials said.
Footage posted on social media shows frazzled travelers, including children, running with their luggage from a Boeing 757-300 plane in several inches of snow, according to atlantanewsfirst.com.
Four passengers reported minor injuries and one was taken to the hospital, while the others were treated at the scene, the airport said.
Details about the engine problems were not immediately clear.
Delta apologized to passengers for the nerve-wracking experience.
“Delta’s flight crew followed established procedures to suspend the takeoff of flight…after an indication of an engine issue,” Delta said in a statement.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and customers, and we apologize to our customers for their experience.”
Atlanta, GA
Houston faces Atlanta on 3-game win streak
Houston Rockets (25-12, second in the Western Conference) vs. Atlanta Hawks (19-19, ninth in the Eastern Conference)
Atlanta; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Houston seeks to continue its three-game win streak with a victory over Atlanta.
The Hawks have gone 10-7 at home. Atlanta ranks third in the Eastern Conference with 17.5 fast break points per game led by Jalen Johnson averaging 3.6.
The Rockets have gone 12-6 away from home. Houston averages 113.1 points and has outscored opponents by 6.0 points per game.
The Hawks’ 13.1 made 3-pointers per game this season are just 0.7 more made shots on average than the 12.4 per game the Rockets give up. The Hawks average 113.1 points per game, 6.7 fewer points than the 119.8 the Hawks give up to opponents.
TOP PERFORMERS: Johnson is averaging 19.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals for the Hawks.
Alperen Sengun is averaging 19.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and five assists for the Rockets.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hawks: 5-5, averaging 119.2 points, 41.2 rebounds, 30.5 assists, 11.2 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 121.5 points per game.
Rockets: 7-3, averaging 113.7 points, 48.0 rebounds, 19.9 assists, 8.9 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.9 points.
INJURIES: Hawks: Kobe Bufkin: out for season (shoulder), Larry Nance Jr.: out (hand), Jalen Johnson: day to day (shoulder), Cody Zeller: day to day (personal).
Rockets: Tari Eason: day to day (injury management), Jabari Smith Jr.: out (hand).
——
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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