Kobe Bufkin Showed On Tuesday Night He Might Be Ready To Assume The Backup Point Guard Duties For The Atlanta Hawks

Bufkin shined in the Hawks preseason win on Tuesday

Feb 25, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kobe Bufkin (4) is guarded by Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

While just a single preseason game, it was hard to imagine it going much better for the Atlanta Hawks. Their No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher looked great, scoring 18 points on 7-9 shooting and playing an all-around solid game. Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Vit Krejci were other players who had good nights, but one guy had an underrated night and that is second-year guard Kobe Bufkin.

One of the biggest questions for the Hawks coming into the season was backup point guard and ball handler. Whenever Trae Young had gone to the bench in the past couple of seasons, Dejounte Murray would be able to run the offense, but with Murray traded this offseason, that became a question mark.

While it is just one game, Bufkin seemed to feel comfortable in that role and looked more than capable of leading the second unit. Bufkin finished with nine points on 3-8 shooting, as well as four assists and three rebounds in nearly 22 minutes of game time. He ran the offense well and especially had good chemistry with new addition Larry Nance in the pick-and-roll. But Bufkin showed more than just offense. He played well defensively and even found himself in situations where he was guarding bigger players, where he more than held his own.

After the game, head coach Quin Snyder had a lot of praise for how Bufkin played:

"You know, there was a few possessions You know where we really moved the ball and he was part of Initiating the possession and getting us an advantage and then we kept playing kept playing you know and that that was good to see. I mean, it's, for us, when we have different guys, we can get a critical mass of guys on the floor that are passing the ball and spacing and continuing to play, the probability that everybody does it goes up. And as soon as we get, you know, two, three guys that aren't doing that, it becomes very difficult for the rest of the group to do that. So, when Kobe comes in and he's passing the ball ahead and doing some of those things offensively, you know, he really can't access. And maybe the best thing that I thought he did tonight was he defended, you know, to see him get up and get up to court. That's something that's gonna be, you know, we'll be able to see that some on film tomorrow where we just, we had breakdowns. They put a lot of pressure on you. You have to guard your man in space a lot of times. But the times that you are able to help, you need to be there. You need to be there, and we weren't always there, but I thought Kobe's ball pressure in particular really gave us a lift."

Bufkin is going to be one of the most important players on the Hawks this season and if he can show he can be the backup point guard when Young is not on the floor, that could raise the ceiling of this team.