Could this versatile big man crack the rotation?
Dominick Barlow might be the least well known of the Hawks full roster for the upcoming season, but there is some significant upside with this project big who spent the last two seasons in San Antonio with the Spurs.
Barlow is a 6-foot-9 big man who can reasonably be deployed at either the 4 and the 5 in certain lineups. To that end, when asked what position he sees himself playing at media day, Barlow responded, “wherever coach [Snyder] tells me to play, I’m going to play.”
Barlow signed to a two-way contract this offseason, so he’ll likely spend most of his time with the College Park Skyhawks, but there’s a chance the Hawks may see enough in him to give him some stretches of minutes throughout the season. In his NBA career through two seasons, he has averaged a modest 4.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.5 blocks per game in 13.6 minutes per contest, but Barlow is still just 21 years of age, so there could always be a breakout on the horizon.
His calling card may just be his 7-foot-3 wingspan, something that often helps him cover ground and affect shots near the rim. Here’s a good example of it from last season. In a game against the Bucks, his defense on two consecutive possessions was on full display.
On offense, he can comfortably step out to mid-range and, on rare occasions, to beyond the arc to hit shots — but he’s by no means a full on stretch-big yet in his journey. Barlow has just three made triples in his career on 13 attempts, but his shot form does look fluid enough to think he could eventually hit them with consistency.
Like recently waived third center Bruno Fernando, Barlow does possess a bit of skill and vision when operating dribble-handoff possessions, like this below dish to a cutting Doug McDermott. I can’t imagine he’ll have the ball in his hands a ton, but he has 60 career assists to just 24 turnovers. This sure-handedness with the ball is something I imagine he’ll have no problem bringing over from San Antonio.
“The passing, I’ve just always had a feel,” said Barlow about this ability. “Playing at a small high school, I had the ball in my hands a lot. I was used to getting doubled a lot of the time so finding cutters and the ‘up man’ and stuff like that, that’s what I needed to do to help our team win.”
At first glance, it looks as though the Hawks have a logjam of big men, but with Cody Zeller seemingly not in the team’s plans, there may be opportunity for Barlow to impress and step in just in case of an injury crisis.
“I’m a high level athlete, guard multiple positions, space the floor, rebound,” replied Barlow when asked to introduce Hawks fans to his game. “Just do all the little stuff.”
“We have great passers,” he continued about his role within the Hawks. “We have a lot of high level athletes on this team that like to move, so I’m just trying to find the spacing to fit in. I think getting up in transition is going to be the easiest way for me to get points.”
Peachtree Hoops’ own Malik Brown broke down some aspects of his game in this recent written piece, so be sure to check that one out as well.