Atlanta Hawks waive Oakland’s Keith Benson
October 11, 2012 in Professional
For the second straight year, the Atlanta Hawks have waived former Oakland University standout Keith Benson in training camp. From NBA.com:
Both players appeared in one preseason game (last night’s contest at San Antonio), as Benson finished with 10 points and two rebounds in 10 minutes (5-8 FGs), and Muhammad recorded one point and two assists (1-2 FTs) in 12 minutes of action.
Benson’s strong preseason performance in his first game, along with his strong Summer League, have solidified him as a professional player. The Hawks may have actually done him a favor by cutting him early rather than waiting. He was a longshot to make that roster when you consider what’s in front of him — All-Stars Josh Smith and Al Horford as well as guaranteed contracts to Ivan Johnson, Zaza Pachulia and Johan Petro as well as NBA veteran Anthony Tolliver in camp. Keeping Benson would’ve meant the Hawks either had to carry six or seven big men (depending on what they do with Tolliver), something that is rare with only 15 roster spots, or they would’ve had to eat a guaranteed contract to one of those players in order to keep Benson, and that’s something that is even more rare. Releasing him early allows Benson an opportunity to either catch on with another team in camp or find a deal overseas if he wants to pursue that route.
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[...] When I wrote last week about the Atlanta Hawks releasing former Oakland star Keith Benson after just one preseason game — a game that, incidentally, he played really well in — I thought it seemed strange that they weren’t giving a young big man who performed well in the Summer League a longer look. But they also have a logjam of guaranteed contracts in their frontcourt (to be fair, some of those are guaranteed contracts to underperforming veterans), and it’s rare for a team to release a player on a guaranteed contract in the economic climate in today’s NBA, particularly a team like Atlanta that has seemingly had attendance problems forever. [...]