The Atlanta Hawks injury issues have flowed through the rest of the franchise to the College Park Skyhawks. The G League affiliate has played short-handed for a number of games, losing key matchups in the process which has hampered their push for the playoffs.
The latest player called up was Sharife Cooper in case Trae Young was too banged up to play against the Chicago Bulls. This was due to the ankle issue caused by Marcus Smart taking away his landing space against the Celtics. This is on top of Jalen Johnson being called up to potentially take some of the load thanks to the injury to John Collins.
This has left Cat Barber and Justin Tillman carrying the load for the Skyhawks. Both of these players are leading the league in seperate catergories but Tillman has struggled over the last two games, garnering more defensive attention since he announced himself to the league .
So which ex Atlanta Hawks signee stepped up for the College Park Skyhawks?
Armoni Brooks came off the bench for the Skyhawks and played 33 minutes. In that time he collected a stat line of 24 point, seven rebounds, three assists, three staks and one block. He was efficient going 9-of-18 from the floor and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.
The casual Atlanta Hawks fan could be forgiven for not knowing Brooks. The 6’3″ point guard was signed to an Exhibit 10 contract by the Hawks back in August of 2019. He was in training camp for the Hawks, all the way until the eve of the season before being waived in October.
All was not lost for Brooks though, he signed with the Houston Rockets in 2021, playing part of two seasons with the franchise before being waived in 2022. During this tiem he averaged 7.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 19.8 minutes per game.
Given that the Skyhawks are attracting players like Brooks and ex-NBA talent such as Langston Galloway who could have potentially played for the Hawks during their injury and COVID-19 issues, this is a good sign for the franchise moving forward.