Kyle Korver and Thabo Sefolosha are going to be key for Atlanta this season.
Korver for the obvious reasons — they need his shooting, his work on the weak side of the offense to keep opposing defenses honest. The guy was an All-Star for a reason. Sefolosha matters because he is going to step into a lot of DeMarre Carroll’s role.
So it’s good news that both are healthy and doing some basketball activities, as reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.“I would say, to differing degrees, they are doing basketball activities now,” (Hawks’ coach Mike) Budenholzer said Monday. “Whether it’s some 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 between now and camp there is the potential for some 5-on-5 in a limited kind of way. But shooting, working out and doing those types of things, they are making good progress....”
Even with the players cleared for basketball activities, Budenholzer expects to bring them along slowly at the start of training camp and the preseason.
Korver had elbow surgery over the summer but was expected to be ready for training camp.
Sefolosha suffered a broken right fibula that required surgery after a run-in with the NYPD near the end of last season (that case has its next hearing date Oct. 5). It was up for debate whether he would be able to go at the start of the season, and even if fully cleared by doctors you can expect Budenholzer to ease him back in.
All of which is not going to help a Hawks team that would like to repeat the fast start it got off to last season.