A quick note on the Atlanta Hawks signing Deyonta Davis to a 10-Day contract.
With the injury of rookie Omari Spellman, which will likely keep the former Villanova Wildcat out of the lineup for the rest of the season, the Atlanta Hawks have had to dip into free agency and sign players to 10-Day contracts.
First up was Tyler Zeller, the seven-foot center out of North Carolina who has been in the league since 2012. He got into 66 games last year with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, but he had remained unsigned until the Hawks got ahold of him for 2 games.
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Now it seems Atlanta has moved on from Zeller in favor of the younger Deyonta Davis, a former Michigan State product that was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the first pick in the second round in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Davis is still only 22 years old, so he is a far more tantalizing prospect than the more established Zeller, and Davis flashed some potential during his two seasons playing with the Memphis Grizzlies.
So far this year, Davis had not played a game in the NBA, though he had been putting together a solid campaign in the G-League with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s affiliate, by producing 9.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and a +1.4 on/off rating in 23.4 minutes per game with Santa Cruz per NBA.com.
In Davis’s second season in the NBA last year, he put together a career season with a 16.6 Player Efficiency Rating and 2.7 win shares according to Basketball Reference, both of which were career-highs. His 62.1 percent true shooting percentage showcases his ability to finish shots around the basket – something that will be necessary when you have a gifted passer like Trae Young giving you the ball.
Davis has already played a tiny bit in garbage time against the Houston Rockets earlier this week, so let’s hope we see a little more of him over the course of the next 10 days.