Peter Okereke
The Atlanta Hawks have been busy making moves this offseason, extending the contract of CJ McCollum and trading for Oklahoma City Thunder wing Aaron Wiggins, among others. The Hawks are looking to build off last year’s journey to the NBA playoffs, where they lost in six games to the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks.
One area where the Hawks could use some more depth is the frontcourt, where they were quite small last year. Lately however, NBA insider Jake Fischer confirmed that Atlanta fans won’t have to worry about having to root for a player they hated last year.
“We know Atlanta isn’t going after Goga Bitadze, Hawks fans, as the Magic aren’t talking trade for their reserve center, sources say, while anticipating Mo Wagner will leave Orlando in free agency,” wrote Fischer on X.
Bitadze drew the ire of Atlanta fans everywhere with a dirty foul on Hawks big man Jock Landale last year, which ended up injuring Landale and ending his season prematurely. Although Bitadze was thrown out of the game for that incident, he drew the anger of Hawks fans on social media, with many wondering why he wasn’t suspended for the dirty act.
Thankfully, Hawks fans won’t have to conjure up any positivity on the basketball court for Bitadze next year, as it seems the big center will be staying put with the Orlando Magic.
Meanwhile, the Hawks used the NBA draft to add some depth to their frontcourt, selecting Zuby Ejiofor out of St. John’s and Henri Veesaar out of North Carolina with their second and third picks in order to shore up that department.
