Atlanta Hawks: Langston Galloway Would Fit In Bench Role
The Atlanta Hawks are planning to upgrade their roster at the trade deadline. Could they use an extra scoring guard off the bench?
The trade deadline is already heating up. The first major domino to fall was Serge Ibaka being traded to the Toronto Raptors. The Atlanta Hawks’ decision to take Paul Millsap off the market left the Raptors with few other options. They had to make a move to shake up the Eastern Conference, and they did just that.
The most shocking trade so far has been the Sacramento Kings sending DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi to the New Orleans Pelicans for Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, Tyreke Evans, a 2017 first-round pick, and a 2017 second-round pick.
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They essentially sold Cousins for $0.50 on the dollar because Vivek Ranadive thinks Hield is Stephen Curry reincarnate. I’ve got bad news for him; Steph Currys don’t grow on trees. It was a curious move that has left the rest of the NBA scratching their heads, or more accurately, laughing at the Kings.
Sacramento’s foolishness could be Atlanta’s gain. It’s no secret that the Hawks are looking to upgrade their roster as the trade deadline approaches.
They have a stout defense, having posted the fifth best defensive rating in the NBA through 56 games. What they really need to upgrade is their offense, specifically on their bench units.
Enter Langston Galloway. It’s been reported that the Kings are planning to trade Galloway or waive him in the next few days (though recent reports suggest they won’t waive him). I’m not sure why they would do that, but trying to determine logic when discussing a Sacramento Kings transaction is a foolish endeavor.
Galloway would be a great fit off of Atlanta’s bench. They’ve been in search of another scoring guard off the bench, see the Gary Neal experiment, and Galloway fits that description. He’s essentially a younger version of Neal. He’s not perfect, but he brings a slightly better than league average three-point shooting percentage with him.
If you’re just a casual NBA fan you might remember Galloway’s name from his rookie season with the New York Knicks in 2014-15. He made a name for himself that season as a high-energy scorer, starting 41 games, after working his way up from the D-League. That season Galloway averaged 11.8 points per game on 39.9 percent shooting and 35.2 percent from deep.
In 55 games with New Orleans this season, Galloway averaged 8.6 points, 1.2 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game on 37.4 percent shooting and 37.7 percent from three-point range. For his career Galloway is a 35.9 percent shooter from three-point distance. As a team the Hawks are shooting 34.1 percent from outside this season. That ranks 25th best in the league. This is a team in need of shooting any way they can get it.
Galloway doesn’t come without flaws. He’s not really a “true point guard”. His assist rate this season is just 8.9 percent. He’s also inefficient from anywhere but beyond the arc. For his career he shoots just 41.3 percent on two-point field goal attempts. Despite those flaws, acquiring him just makes sense for the Hawks. All they need him to do is make three-pointers.
He doesn’t boast outstanding numbers, but they’re on par with what Malcolm Delaney has contributed this season. Galloway would push Delaney for minutes and provide a nice jolt of scoring off the bench. Coaches love to say that competition breeds success.
It’s never a bad thing to have options when playoff time comes. If Delaney outplays Galloway for the rest of the season then Galloway would just serve as an emergency third point guard. If he played well, and provided a scoring boost for their struggling bench units, then he could possibly win the back up point guard role.
Based on what the Kings got for Boogie Cousins I’d assume the Hawks could get Galloway for a second-round pick, their Netflix password, and a Paul Millsap bobble-head. That’s not entirely true, but I can’t imagine him costing Atlanta anything significant.
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If he’s waived it might be tough for the Hawks to land him. He’s sure to have several suitors looking to stock up on back court depth for the playoffs. Whether it’s realistic or not, it’s obvious that Galloway would be an ideal fit for this Hawks team.