The Atlanta Hawks showed that they can recognize talent when they signed Tyson Etienne to their Summer League team despite him going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft. While he did not perform overly well in the first three and a half games, that all changed in the second half of the San Antonio Spurs game.
Etienne simply balled out and help to lift the Hawks to their second win of the tournament. As a result, the franchise rewarded Etienne with an Exhibit 10 deal. This basically means that he is now going to be at training camp, looking to impress the coaching staff to potentially win a deal for the regular season.
While this is the goal of any player close to the NBA level, Etienne has the chance to realize that dream. He has the chance to become the NBA’s rags to riches story of the 2022 NBA season. He has shown the ability to grow throughout his career so far.
The Atlanta Hawks have shown tremendous faith in Tyson Etienne.
While Etienne is by no means guaranteed to make an impact in training camp but he has had to work his way to where he is now through a slightly alternate route. Etienne played his college ball at Wichita State, a mid-major that has only produced 23 NBA players.
There are only three active players in the league out of Wichita and neither Austin Reaves nor Fred VanVleet were drafted, while Landry Shamet was taken late in the second round. Etienne is going to have to take the harder route to the NBA.
He took three seasons in college to develop into the player that we saw in the second half against the Spurs. Now he needs to continue to show that he is willing to develop into a player that the Hawks can trust to play a role with the team.
With tremendous hard work, he could fill one of the remaining roster spots or he could secure a two-way deal. Failing that, look for the Hawks to sign him to their G League squad, which is where he will continue to develop, hopefully where he could show enough there to gain a call-up.