You hear all the time about the Atlanta Hawks being the San Antonio Spurs of the East under Mike Budenholzer. Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver were all All-Stars this year. The one guy who is hardly ever talked about is DeMarre Carroll – the Hawks’ own two-way player and fifth starter who is truly one of the most underrated and perhaps underappreciated players this season.
Carroll, who is set to become a free agent in the offseason, is having a career year with averages of 12.5 points on 48.7 percent shooting from the field, including 39.9 percent from the arc, to go with 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals. His defense has been tremendous all year long at the small forward position, and he has made enough of an impact on both ends of the floor to be called a “two-way player”. With the way he has helped the Hawks become one of the best teams in the league, Carroll should be looking at a big increase in pay in the summer.
The one thing he hasn’t really received is much attention from the media or anyone else, really, which is a shame given how big of a role he has played for Atlanta. At least he has plenty of support from fans who recognize his work, as seen below:
Is @DeMarreCarroll1 this year’s Jimmy Butler?! Sure ending the season with that type of game, a GREAT 2way player! @ATLHawks
— Chris Echevarria (@Echev1503) April 7, 2015
If @demarrecarroll1 doesn’t get most improved player…. https://t.co/Qzjc6d7XVe
— Carlos (@Chillll_Los) April 7, 2015
@DeMarreCarroll1 is one of the most important players on this @ATLHawks team…very crucial he stays healthy
— #1 Seed (@ZachNagel7) April 8, 2015
The above are all tweets that Carroll retweeted after helping his team dispatch the Phoenix Suns 96-69 on Tuesday. The forward finished his night with 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field with six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in just 24 minutes of action.
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.