Austin Daye was a late addition to the Atlanta Hawks' roster in 2015, but he earned the right to stick around and will go to training camp in the fall looking to earn playing time.
The 2015 season began for Daye in San Antonio with the defending champion Spurs. He appeared in 27 games averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.3 minutes of action before being waived on January 17. From there he landed with the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA Development League where he appeared in 10 games while averaging 16 points and 6.5 rebounds. He shot just 41 percent from the field including 29 percent from three-point range during his D-League stint.
Atlanta signed him to a 10-day contract after Mike Scott suffered what was initially feared to be a broken toe. The Hawks signed him to a second 10-day deal on March 25 and inked him for the remainder of the season on April 4 with a non-guaranteed multi-year deal.
Daye played sparingly while with the Hawks appearing in eight games averaging 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds.
Daye's best season came back in 2011 when he appeared in 72 games with Detroit. Since then he battled his way through some injuries and has bounced around from team to team.
At 6-11, 220 he fits the definition of a stretch four in today's NBA game. He is not much of a defender or a rebounder so he needs to become more consistent with his jump shot if he hopes to stick around with the Hawks or with another NBA team. Daye is a career 35 percent shooter from three-point range.
Daye's entire salary for the 2016 season is non-guaranteed meaning that he will need to impress the team to stick around on the opening night roster. We will see what a full offseason in Atlanta's player development program can do for Daye.