The Atlanta Hawks got a win in their fourth Summer League game, taking the Miami Heat down 94-90. They got a big game from Skylar Mays who had 26 points, nine assists, and four rebounds with two assists. He also operated as the primary ball-handler with Sharife Cooper sidelined by health and safety protocols.
Jalen Johnson bounced back from a relatively rough third game to put up 25/7/3 (his first game without a double-double) of his own with a pair of steals and a block to boot.
Atlanta’s record now stands at 2-2 with a date against the Knicks on tap for Monday.
Strangely, surprise performances by several players, however, shined a different kind of light on their stints in Summer League.
Johnson, Cooper, and Mays were always going to be the stars of the summer. But they weren’t the only ones to come in with expectations. Several more experienced players made the Summer League roster with a good chance to show they still belong in the league.
Atlanta Hawks player that underwhelmed No. 1: Jordan Bell hasn’t been able to turn things around
But most haven’t been so opportunistic.
Jordan Bell was a guy who explicitly joined the Hawks for Summer League to prove his worth despite being an NBA champ. He’s averaged just 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds. On Saturday he was a DNP-coach’s decision.
This is a disaster for Bell as he was in prime position to stick behind Clint Capela and Gorgui Dieng with Onyeka Okongwu injured.
He just hasn’t shown anything from the beginning often showing bad hands in the process. His might be the most certain flop of the Hawks summer, but he certainly isn’t the only one to squander this opportunity.
Atlanta Hawks player that underwhelmed No. 2: Admiral Schofield finally had a big game
This one hurts because we had high hopes when the Hawks Summer League roster was announced and Admiral Schofield was on it. The former Tennessee Volunteer has the size and body type — he’s 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds — to be a presence on the defensive end.
Like Bell, he has NBA experience, though far less.
He was the 42nd-overall pick in 2019 though. That adds to the expectations as a younger guy who should be itching to prove his worth.
It’s similar to Skylar Mays who missed out on any Summer League or G-League action last season thanks to COVID. Mays, though, started well has clearly stepped up his game as the Vegas stretch has gone on.
Schofield was averaging fewer than a point per game before his 12-point outburst versus the Heat. He shot 44.4 percent from the floor and, more impressively, was 4-of-7 from deep.
He also had six rebounds, but he had at least flashed that already. The scoring is new.
Drafted by the Wizards who traded for the right, he spent his rookie season in Washington averaging 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in 11.2 minutes.
The Wizards sent him to Oklahoma City for Cassius Winston a year later.
Schofield has spent the better part of the last two seasons in the G-League first averaging 16.0/5.5/2.2 with the Wizards affiliate and 10.1/5.7/2.1 for Charlotte’s farm team. It’s a shame he hadn’t shown that same assertiveness in Las Vegas sooner.
Atlanta Hawks player that underwhelmed No. 3: Eric Moreland should have taken advantage
Eric Moreland has the most experience on the roster and the fact that he hasn’t been a bigger presence is unfortunate. Especially in light of Bell’s failure to capitalize on his chance. Moreland is averaging just 4.5 boards and a singular point in a little over 13 minutes per game.
Scoring wasn’t going to be his claim to fame anyway, but the rebounding is shockingly low.
At 6-foot-10 he’s easily the tallest player on the Hawks Summer League roster and often on the floor as small-ball has been prevalent. So far, Moreland has been thoroughly outplayed as a center by Johnson when the rookie moonlights as a five.
The 29-year-old is three years Bell’s senior and has four years of NBA experience. Though, to be fair, just one season even reached 10 games.
He spent two seasons with the Kings after going undrafted out of Oregon State. After that, it was the Pistons whom he appeared in 67 games for, starting three. Moreland averaged just 2.1 points, 4.1 boards, and 1.2 assists in 12 minutes per contest.
He did record a pair of double-doubles, though, including a 16-point, 17-board outing against the Bulls.
But that was back in 2018. And he hasn’t played in the NBA since 2019. Moreland spent the last two years playing in China, averaging 14.4 points and 13 rebounds. Unfortunately, that success hasn’t translated stateside.
With Okongwu out until January at the earliest, Moreland could have stuck around as the third center. The Hawks have since signed Johnny Hamilton and nothing Moreland has done would warrant a change of direction.
Atlanta Hawks player that underwhelmed No. 4: Jeremiah Martin has been a complete non-factor
One of the things that makes a player disappointing in Summer League is having NBA experience when most of the guys there don’t and still looking out of place. The only thing that can be considered worse is not being out there at all. There are some valid reasons not to be, such as injury.
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But as it stands we don’t know that to be the case with Jeremiah Martin, a 6-foot-3 point guard with two years of NBA service under his belt.
Martin spent last season with the Cavs averaging 2.4 points in 8.3 minutes across nine games.
Before that, he was with the Nets and averaged 7.1/1.1/2.0 in 11 minutes per game in the regular season and 4.0/1.0/1.3 in four postseason games.
He’s split his time in the G-League over the last two years between the Nets and Heat affiliates and has averaged 18.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists.
It’s his 2.0 steals per game, though, that would have been a nice thing to put on display.
That’s not likely to have helped him crack a Hawks roster deep at the guard spots. But he certainly could have shown what kind of growth he has experienced.
Instead, he hasn’t played a single minute thanks to health and safety protocols.
He barely edges out Javin Delaurier who could also have been on this list. But, again, Martin has to be the choice here given that he’s found his way onto two rosters since being undrafted out of Memphis in 2019.
Delaurier has never made it past the G-League and averaged just 3.4 points and 3.8 boards in college. Martin averaged 19.7 points per game as a senior.