The evolution of offense in the NBA has required some defensive compromises. It’s not feasible for every shot to be contested when so many players on the court can dribble, pass and shoot. There’s just too much space and pace to keep up and cover it all, so defenses are forced to make trade-offs.
Now comes a new development, one that bodes well for the Hawks. If it’s difficult to guard open shooters at the three-point line, what happens when a player can make shots several feet beyond it at a good clip? That distort defenses even more, creating even more offensive space.