One of the many players that the Atlanta Hawks have signed thanks to the current Covid crisis is Malcolm Hill, who was signed at the same time as Cat Barber.. The 6’6″ forward has now played in two games for the Hawks. The first game was against the New York Knicks where he received only junk time minutes.
However, after the Knicks game, the Hawks lost John Collins and Jalen Johnson to the health and safety protocols and this left them with no healthy power forwards on the roster. Against the Bulls, Cam Reddish played at the four at times but he needed to have a break, he played 40 minutes of the game.
This is where Hill came in and bought energy to the court. While he only played 14 minutes, this was ten minutes more than Lance Stephenson, a player with a much greater level of NBA experience. However, what he bought to the court made it worthwhile.
The Atlanta Hawks may look to do more with Malcolm Hill
The energy plays that Hill made today were impressive. He collected three rebounds, one of them on the offensive end. Hill also collected a steal during his time on the court. While he did not attempt a field goal, he still got to the line four times, not missing any.
This is the sort of player who could make quite a good 15th man or even a two-way player. While the Hawks have Sharife Cooper and Skylar Mays as their current two-way players, one of them could replace Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot on the roster.
It is this kind of thinking which is going to get the Hawks closer to a title this season. They have not had any luck with injury all season but when they get their players back, this team is going to be extremely dangerous. Look for another surge like last season after the All-Star break which will have this team near the top of the Eastern Conference. Signing Hill could help this.