The Atlanta Hawks drafted well again this season. They got their man AJ Griffin in the first round without having to make a trade. This put them in a strong position for the rest of the draft. They were able to make a move in the second round to play around with picks which is what they did.
They traded the rights to Ryan Rollins, who was selected with the 44th pick by the Golden State Warriors for Tyrese Martin and cash. Martin was taken by the Warriors with the 51st pick in the draft, before the trade.
It is obvious that the Hawks like what they saw from some of the summer league performances from Martin. One quarter in the third game was enough for the Hawks to decide to sign him to a deal. However, as Martin said, getting the deal is not enough, he has to work really hard to actually make it to an NBA court.
So, what role will Tyrese Martin play with the Atlanta Hawks?
Well, to put it simply, unless he can make some strides in training camp, it is hard to see Martin playing a huge role with the Hawks next season. They have a large number of good wings who can provide what the team needs on a nightly basis.
So what this means is that Martin is going to spend a lot of time developing in the G League. This is going to make the College Park Skyhawks a very interesting team. Martin will get to showcase his wares alongside the near-NBA talent that the Skyhawks already have.
However, if the Hawks have injury issues as they have had over the previous two seasons then they will need Martin to come back to the varsity squad. He would basically, be used at the end of periods and in junk time unless he caught fire during a game.
For Martin to play any other role with the Hawks squad this season they would need to lose a heap of players to injury. If this happens then the season is going go to be shot for the Hawks and they may as well see how good he has the potential to be. Let us hope that we do not see much of Tyrese Martin this season.