re: How does Willie justify dropping Hawk from the rotation?

Hawkins needs to and also deserves to get some minutes based on his play and role in the future of this team.

With that being said, I don’t think he should get a lot of minutes at the moment. 7-10 min a game. However, as we all know, an 82 game season is a marathon. Hawk will get a lot of minutes for stretches, just like he did earlier while CJ, Naji, and Jose were out. Guys will be out again this year and he’ll play. He needs to take advantage of those spots and work his arse off in getting stronger in the meantime.

If he barely plays again this year (worst case scenario for him); based on the significant playing time he had already and opportunity to continue to play in spurts while building his body up, I think it would be a valuable rookie season.