Meet the newest Hawk.
Besides the Dejounte Murray trade earlier in the offseason, the Atlanta Hawks have made minor additions to their roster as training camp slowly approaches. One of their most recent signings was Dominick Barlow, who was a 2022 undrafted free agent from the San Antonio Spurs.
In the last two seasons, Barlow has played in 61 games for the Spurs, averaging 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 13.6 minutes. The Spurs didn’t offer a qualifying offer to Barlow after last season — making him an unrestricted free agent — which allowed the Hawks to sign him.
The 6-foot-9 forward is still very young, and he has some real potential to his game with his skillset. Barlow can be seen as more of an athletic four who can defend centers as well. On offense, Barlow can be seen as a rim runner, but he’s also had success with his face-up game.
The most notable game from Barlow’s time with the Spurs is his 21-point, 19-rebound performance against the Dallas Mavericks. In that game, Barlow showed a little bit of everything in his game, but what was evident was that he lives in the paint.
Barlow was able to work more on his game in the G League, where he appeared in 53 games and averaged 16.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game in 29.1 minutes. In those games, he expanded his offense, stepping out and stretching the floor with his jump shot. It’s definitely not something that he’s known for, but the fact that he’s working on it means that he can improve at some point.
Nice pickup for the Atlanta Hawks. Dominick Barlow still has a lot of untapped potential as a “speed 5.” His instincts combined with his high motor makes for a nice developmental big. Having said that, the Hawks could have still retained Bruno Fernando ♂️pic.twitter.com/spa7zHMNEg https://t.co/EcvSolsLqz
— Conrado Pascual (@CP3_777) July 30, 2024
The Hawks could be looking to have more athleticism at their forward spot, and they’re also trying to build depth at the position. After Saddiq Bey went down with a season-ending injury, the Hawks had to rely on Jalen Johnson a lot, but he also missed time with a few injuries.
The team now has a few players who can slot into that position, so it’ll also be interesting to see who gets those minutes when Johnson goes to the bench.
As for Barlow, if he doesn’t see many minutes with the Hawks, he’ll most likely be sent to the College Park Skyhawks, where they’ve proven to have a developmental system that helps players. Barlow has all the tools to be a solid player in the league, and hopefully, his time with the Hawks can help him unlock those tools.