Atlanta Hawks rookie Tyler Dorsey may find playing time hard to come by this season in the loaded shooting guard position.
It’s no secret that Coach Mike Budenholzer will experiment with his lineups this season, but what’s not so clear is where rookie Tyler Dorsey lands in his thinking. Drafted #41 overall out of Oregon, both Budenholzer and Travis Schlenk were very high on praising the young man’s ability coming off of a stellar sophomore year for the Ducks.
His ability to shoot the three is the tool with which he made his bread and butter and earned him a contract with an NBA team, but his chance to show it off in Summer League was cut short due to an injury which caused him to sit out much of the tournament.
Related Story: Atlanta Hawks officially sign Summer League standout Quinn Cook
Now Dorsey finds himself in a position where he has to prove himself, but this time alongside the players with whom he will be competing against for minutes. John Collins took Summer League as an opportunity to show that he is ready to ball with the big boys and he has certainly earned his spot in Coach Bud’s rotation.
Dorsey’s “friendly competition” over the next month? Kent Bazemore, DeAndre’ Bembry, Nicolas Brussino, Marco Belinelli, and Quinn Cook. All those listed have NBA experience and will be equally as motivated to compete for the starting, backup, and even third string role if you will.
More from Soaring Down South
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Grade the trade: Hawks deal Trae Young to Clippers in shocking proposal
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
Bazemore and Belinelli will certainly be in the rotation as Bud’s go-to guys and Bembry is likely to earn his playing time at the 2 or the 3 simply based off his exemplary Summer League performance. Brussino, Cook, and Dorsey will be fighting for those garbage time minutes and will yearn for the chance to show their potential to Bud, and hope it is enough to garner minutes.
Dorsey will have to do some of his hardest work in the gym when the cameras are turned off. Practice will be the place where he will need to show Coach Bud why he was drafted by Atlanta and why he deserves his shot in the NBA.
That being said, I expect Dorsey to spend some time in the G-League and demonstrate his ability there before he can challenge the likes of Brussino and Cook for time on the court.
The next several months or so will be rather eye-opening as to what Bud is really going to do with this roster, but it’s clear that player development seems to be the law of the land, and the Eerie Bay Hawks may be the optimal place for Dorsey to develop as a player himself.
Next: The Atlanta Hawks starting lineups: a play in three parts
I like Tyler Dorsey and hope he does well to prove himself and earn his minutes, it’s always pleasing when a player does so, but for now his best bet might be to refine his trade and study the game before he steps it up against the cream of the crop in the NBA.