Atlanta Hawks Make Key Free Agent Decision with Bruno Fernando

The Hawks have waived one of the centers on their roster in an effort to trim down their rotation

Apr 10, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) steps back to shoot against Atlanta Hawks forward Bruno Fernando (24) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Hawks going into their season with four centers on their roster - Clint Capela, Cody Zeller, Onyeka Okongwu and Bruno Fernando - was always going to be highly unlikely. Today, they made a decision to open up roster space by letting Fernando go.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Hawks are waiving Fernando.

The Atlanta Hawks are waiving center Bruno Fernando, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 30, 2024

After being selected by the 76ers with the 34th pick of the 2019 draft, Fernando was immediately traded to Atlanta. He split time between the Hawks' rotation and College Park as a rookie, getting minutes as a bench center. Fernando was then traded to the Boston Celtics before being sent to the Houston Rockets after the Celtics acquired Daniel Theis. Fernando made his return to Atlanta in a deal with the Houston Rockets that sent Justin Holiday, Frank Kaminsky and two second-round picks to Houston in exchange for Fernando and wing Garrison Mathews.

The Hawks got the better end of that deal as both Mathews and Fernando played valuable roles for Atlanta last season. In particular, Fernando was one of the more effective third centers in the league and showed development in 2023-24. He put up 6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and one assist in 15.2 minutes per game. He functioned well as a paint scorer, hitting 60% of his shots from inside the arc.

I thought Fernando played well within the offense and knew his responsibilities. He's fairly strong for an undersized center (standing at 6'9) and consistently set good screens to make room for shooters. He stepped into the backup center role against the Bulls and did what he could to keep the Hawks afloat in Capela's absence.

His best game of the season was against the Charlotte Hornets in the regular season, where he dropped 25 points and 6 rebounds in the Hawks win. He consistently found himself against either Grant Williams or Tre Mann and exploited the mismatch to great effect. He also showed off some fancy footwork against Nick Richards throughout the game - Charlotte simply did not have anyone they could reliably cover him with. Even though he is not a three-point shooter by any means, his touch around the basket and footwork are reliably consistent parts of his game.

It's likely that Fernando finds a new team that is in dire need of center depth. Unfortunately, the Hawks are not that team. With this extra roster spot, it frees them up to either make a trade or veteran signing that will make a bigger impact towards the 2024-25 team.

Wishing Bruno nothing but the best!