Hawks sign guard Isaiah Taylor, roster set for opening night

On Tuesday the Atlanta Hawks officially announced the signing of former Texas guard Isaiah Taylor, confirming initial reports from NBA insider Shams Charania. This move, which followed the release of Quinn Cook, effectively sets their roster at 16 players for today’s season opener against the Dallas Mavericks.

The 23-year-old became a free agent on October 15th after clearing waivers with the Houston Rockets. Taylor appeared in 4 regular season games with the Rockets last season but was ultimately unable to get into a groove.

Isaiah Taylor’s most notable recent play came with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers during the 2016-17 G League season. During that time, the undrafted point guard posted impressive averages of 21 PPG and 6 APG on 51.5% shooting.

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Perhaps what was most impressive was his much improved efficiency when shooting the long ball. During his 3 years in college, Taylor’s 3 point conversion was an inferior 29.4% on 0.4 makes per game. Throughout 25 games in the G League, that accuracy shot up to remarkable 45.7% on 1.7 makes per game.

That dramatic increase is widely unprecedented and should be taken with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, it is very encouraging to see Isaiah Taylor develop at such a fast pace, something which should continue now that he has enrolled in Hawks University.

Now that the opening night roster is seemingly set, what can we expect as far as player rotations?

The starting lineup for the foreseeable future will feature Dennis Schroder, Kent Bazemore, Taurean Prince, Ersan Ilyasova, and Dewayne Dedmon.

Based on general expectations and using preseason as a basis, the Hawks second unit will consist of Malcolm Delaney, Marco Belinelli, DeAndre’ Bembry, Mike Muscala, and John Collins.

Does it stop there?

Coach Bud has been known to use a 10-man rotation in recent years, deeper than many other coaches are willing to go (the Houston Rockets used 8 last night against the Warriors).

However, in a recent interview with the AJC’s Michael Cunningham, Coach Bud had this to say:

"“Ten (players) has kind of been our number quite often,” Budenholzer said. “The old NBA it used to be nine or eight. Some teams or coaches are still eight or nine. We’ve probably been at 10. I would say we are open to adding an 11th guy to the rotation. There (are), I think, guys that have earned opportunities, earned chances to play. Sometimes you settle in after ‘X’ number of games. But throwing an 11th guy into the mix may be something we consider or we do.”"

So who is that 11th guy?

The optimal player to fill such a spot would be a veteran specialist that can play multiple positions.

Insert deadeye sniper Luke Babbitt.

Based on what we saw in preseason and given coach Bud’s fondness for forwards that can stretch the floor, Babbitt appears to be the frontrunner to obtain that 11th rotation spot. What we are not entirely sure about is how many minutes coach Bud is willing to play an 11th man in the rotation on a nightly basis. Tonight’s game should give us a better glimpse in to what exactly that might look like.

As far as a general minutes breakdown to start the season, barring any injuries, fans should expect to see something along the lines of:

PG: Schroder 32-34 minutes/Delaney 14-16 minutes

SG: Bazemore 28-30 minutes/Belinelli 18-20 minutes

SF: Prince 28-30 minutes/Bembry 13-15 minutes/Babbitt 3-5 minutes

PF: Ilyasova 26-28 minutes/Muscala 16-18/Babbitt 3-5 minutes

C: Dedmon 26-28 minutes/Collins 20-22 minutes

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Tune in tonight at 8:30pm EST to watch the Hawks open their season in Dallas against Dennis Smith Jr. and the Mavericks.