DeMarre Carroll.
ATLANTA -- Thee Atlanta Hawks suffered a major blow during this offseason when forward DeMarre Carroll, a key figure in last season's surprising success, left the team to sign a lucrative four-year, $60 million deal with the Toronto Raptors.
The 6-foot-8, 212-pound Carroll averaged 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 70 outings to help Atlanta finish the regular season with a 60-22 won-lost record. The Hawks went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals where they got swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Besides Carroll, the Hawks also lost center-forward Pero Antic, who opted to return to the Euroleague and be close to his home, Macedonia. Pero, 6-foot-11 and 260 pounds, had a modest 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game off the bench.
Hoping to stay on top of the East, the Hawks went to work and acquired sharp-shooting Tim Hardaway Jr. from the New York Knicks and center Tiago Splitter from the San Antonio Spurs.
Hardaway, a two-year veteran normed 10.8 points per last season while shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from 3-point range.
Splitter, on the other hand, averaged 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds with the Spurs. While Hardaway is expected to fill the scoring void left by Carroll, Splitter will provide some of DeMarre's defensive intensity.
"We are excited to bring Tiago to Atlanta. He's played an important role in a winning environment, has great understanding of our system and will add to our core. Tiago also brings championship experience and we look forward to adding his interior presence to our team, " Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer told S.B. Nation.
Splitter and Hardaway join a Hawks team that has an impressive core of three All-Stars --- Jeff Teague, Al Horford and Paul Millsap, who re-signed with Atlanta for a 3-year deal worth $59 million early this month.
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