The second year guard has a lot to prove.
Coming into his second season in the league, Kobe Bufkin has shown what kind of player he’ll be for the Hawks when he’s on the floor.
Bufkin had a rollercoaster start to his NBA career, but there was always growth that came with it. He started slow in the Summer League, but by the end, there was obvious improvement from him reading the floor to finding consistency with his jump shot.
From there, Bufkin didn’t see much time with the Hawks. There were several guards in front of him such as Patty Mills, Trent Forrest, and Wes Matthews, and he played mostly in the G League, where he went on a scoring tear for some games. In one of those games, Bufkin went off for 43 points, showing his bag of tricks and getting whatever he wanted on the floor.
After a few injuries on the Hawks, Bufkin was recalled and saw some minutes on the floor, but it wasn’t his offense that stood out, it was his defense. The College Park Skyhawks have been known for developing young players, and Bufkin was now a part of that group.
Now in his second year, there’s a chance that Bufkin can see more minutes on the floor, but there still are some questions on what direction Quin Snyder wants to go with the rotation. The Hawks have a few options in the backcourt, but they don’t have a true backup point guard that can come in when Trae Young is on the bench. Snyder could decide to use Dyson Daniels in those situations, or maybe stagger Jalen Johnson where he can be the playmaker when Young is off.
Bufkin is the most obvious option when it comes to taking the backup point guard minutes, but he’ll probably be used more as an off-ball threat. The Hawks have used Bufkin as the primary guard in the Summer League and G-League, but that was because of the limited options they had in those situations. With the Hawks, having someone on the floor like Bogdan Bogdanovic with him could open up his game and give him someone with experience that he could play off of.
Due to his ability to defend, there could also be opportunities for him to play alongside Young, which would help both players.
Besides his defense, Bufkin’s greatest asset is probably getting to the rim, which is something that Snyder likes. He also has some playmaking abilities, which would bode well for the second unit.
There are still a lot of questions surrounding what kind of role Bufkin will play, but the preseason may give some clarity on what it looks like.