{"id":155369,"date":"2025-08-20T09:30:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T13:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=155369"},"modified":"2025-08-19T17:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T21:10:07","slug":"vit-krejcis-development-and-2025-26-role-with-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/20\/vit-krejcis-development-and-2025-26-role-with-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"V\u00edt Krej\u010d\u00ed&#8217;s Development and 2025-26 Role With Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/krejcvi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">V\u00edt Krej\u010d\u00ed<\/a> might not be a household name across the NBA landscape. The Washington Wizards drafted him with the 37th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Krej\u010d\u00ed played 30 games with the Thunder before the Atlanta Hawks acquired him for <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harklma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maurice Harkless<\/a> and draft compensation. In August of 2023, Atlanta released the Czech guard but signed him to a two-way contract four months later. Later that season, Krej\u010d\u00ed proved to be a valuable depth piece for the Hawks, so they signed him to a four-year, $10.2 million deal in the 2024 offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Krej\u010d\u00ed\u00a0projects to be an important role player in 2025-26 for an Atlanta team looking to return to championship contention.<\/p>\n<h2>V\u00edt Krej\u010d\u00ed&#8217;s Development and 2025-26 Role With Hawks<\/h2>\n<h3>Krej\u010di is More than Just an Ordinary Pass-First Playmaker Now<\/h3>\n<p>The 6-foot-8-inch Krej\u010d\u00ed has an interesting skill set for his size. Oklahoma City officially drafted him as a point guard, but he has played anywhere but center for the Hawks. He sees the floor very well, often completing risky passes or making advanced reads off the dribble. Here, he executes a precise, on-time backdoor lead pass to a cutter in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/29\/hawks-recent-signee-left-off-serbia-eurobasket-roster\/\" target=\"_self\">EuroBasket<\/a> preparation match against Spain.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Vit&#39;s dime got melted down and sold as scrap metal. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lv0nLWZ3pP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/lv0nLWZ3pP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KLChouinard\/status\/1953554664097538429?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Krej\u010d\u00ed came into the league with questions surrounding his perimeter shot, willingness to score, and defensive capabilities. Although his length and wingspan give him a versatile defensive skill set, Krej\u010d\u00ed struggled to stay in front of primary ball handlers. However, throughout the 2023-24 campaign, he developed these skills with the College Park Skyhawks. Krej\u010d\u00ed started 14 games that season on the wing when <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Johnson<\/a> had trouble with ankle sprains and did a much better job of keeping his matchup in front. Hawks head coach Quin Snyder described their G League squad as a &#8220;<a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Joe_Schmidt07\/status\/1772446323188355474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defensive incubator<\/a>,&#8221; and Krej\u010d\u00ed certainly proves this.<\/p>\n<p>He struggled from beyond the arc in his first two seasons, shooting 32.7% from deep his rookie year and 23.8% in his sophomore season. However, Krej\u010d\u00ed flipped his shooting into a major strength over the last two campaigns. The 25-year-old shot 41.2% and 43.7% on 3.1 and 3.6 threes attempted, respectively. Once the calendar flipped to 2025, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask?q=v%C3%ADt+krej%C4%8D%C3%AD+stats+since+january+1%2C+2025\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Krej\u010d\u00ed caught fire<\/a>, splashing 48.2% of his triples on 4.5 tries. He &#8220;lets it fly&#8221; from beyond the arc with no hesitation and even added moving triples to his arsenal.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Vit is 6\/6 from three but also still attuned to what he needs to do on defense. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aaYwYINdji\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/aaYwYINdji<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KLChouinard\/status\/1774972011652976914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>What Role Does He Play For the Hawks Next Season?<\/h3>\n<p>Atlanta <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/01\/hawks-brilliant-offseason-free-agent-signings\/\" target=\"_self\">added guard depth<\/a> this summer with <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kennalu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Kennard<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alexani01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> behind <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daniedy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dyson Daniels<\/a>. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bufkiko01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kobe Bufkin<\/a> is also set to return after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in January. This leaves little room for Krej\u010d\u00ed, but the wing depth is another story.<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/risacza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zaccharie Risacher<\/a> will get the start at small forward, and Krej\u010d\u00ed might follow right behind the 2024 first overall pick. Despite being drafted as a point guard, Krej\u010d\u00ed struggles against heavy, aggressive ball pressure. He can also be <em>too<\/em> unselfish at times, leading to defenses loading up on Atlanta&#8217;s scoring threats. However, when operating as a secondary playmaker alongside Young or even Johnson, he flourishes. His newfound marksmanship is also best utilized when playing off the ball and taking advantage of defenses loading up on others. In the second half of last season, Krej\u010d\u00ed also showed more willingness to take what the defense gave him, even if it meant going for a semi-contested three or layup in the paint.<\/p>\n<p>Snyder&#8217;s offense relies on ball and player movement, screens, and quick decisions. Krej\u010d\u00ed scans the floor well, and the ball rarely stops with him. New shooters like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is<\/a>, Kennard, Alexander-Walker, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/houstca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caleb Houstan<\/a> will benefit from his vision and creative playmaking, especially when Young heads to the bench. The improved shooting can also give the Czech guard more space to handle the rock in the halfcourt, taking pressure off other ball handlers. Krej\u010d\u00ed has cemented a role off the bench with the Hawks as he enters his fifth NBA season.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Kyle Ross-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>V\u00edt Krej\u010d\u00ed might not be a household name across the NBA landscape. The Washington Wizards drafted him with the 37th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Krej\u010d\u00ed played 30 games with the Thunder before the Atlanta Hawks acquired him for Maurice Harkless and draft compensation. In August [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5516,"featured_media":155446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,62],"tags":[50244,49809],"class_list":["post-155369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-nba","tag-2025-26-nba-season","tag-vit-krejci"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155369"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155447,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155369\/revisions\/155447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}