Around 12 months ago, there was some uncertainty as to whether Fernando would be even on the roster for 2023-24. Having returned to Atlanta in February of 2023 in a trade with the Houston Rockets, one that also brought in Garrison Mathews, the Hawks had to decide whether to guarantee the center’s salary that summer.
They did, but only after a brief delay as the Hawks restructured their frontcourt without John Collins after the start of free agency.
Fernando began the season like he did all of his previous seasons as a Hawk, save his rookie year in 2019-20, by barely seeing minutes — unless of course the outcome of the game had already been decided.