Should the Atlanta Hawks pass or pursue Chaundee Brown?

The Atlanta Hawks waited until the end of the G League season before signing Chaundee Brown to a two-way deal. He obviously impressed the Hawks hierarchy enough when he played with the Hawks during the Covid-19 crisis when he started for the club in the absence of so many players.

Brown only played three games for the Hawks, starting two of them. He averaged 9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.7 steals in 27.7 minutes per game. He shot the ball at 36.0 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from behind the 3-point line, and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Brown played two games for the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 1.0 points, and 1.0 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game. He was obviously nowhere near as effective for the Lakers but he was solid in the six games he played for the South Bay Lakers in the G League.

The Atlanta Hawks made an interesting move by signing Chaundee Brown at the end of the season.

When the Hawks signed Brown they knew that they had no ability to play him in the playoffs. They converted Skylar Mays’ contract from a two-way deal into a regular contract. But the question has to be asked if they could not play Brown for this season, why did they sign him to a deal at all?

The Hawks may be looking to extend Brown a qualifying offer as a two-way free agent, similar to the one they offered to Mays at the end of last season. There is a lot of water to pass under the proverbial bridge before that may happen. However, this moves reeks of the long-term planning that has been the hallmark of Travis Schlenk’s tenure as general manager.

The Hawks have a summer of potential roster shakeups via trade, free agency, and the draft. If Brown can survive all that, he will be a welcome addition to the College Park Skyhawks squad as one of the two-way players. The Hawks will then see how he develops to see if they can offer him a full deal next season. He is a talent worth pursuing as a future rotation piece.