The Atlanta Hawks declined the $2.2 million team option for Dominick Barlow this offseason, a decision the team regrets more each day. Barlow is a 22-year-old big man who first made waves by forgoing college for the Overtime Elite program. One year later, he became the first OTE product to land an NBA roster spot, signing with the Spurs in his age-19 season.
Through two seasons in San Antonio and one in Atlanta, Barlow averaged a measly 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks on mediocre efficiency and 12 minutes a night. Just using the box score, Barlow clearly didn't look like an NBA-caliber player.
But Barlow flashed moments of brilliance throughout his career as a big man with legitimate perimeter skills – he just played on bad teams where he fit poorly. Barlow spent two years playing for a Spurs team that went on to earn the first and fourth overall picks during his career, in what was far from a winning basketball team. In Atlanta, Barlow only cracked the rotation in mid-March, when their season was long gone after a series of unfortunate injuries.
Barlow’s supporting cast wasn’t the only thing holding him back. Through three years of service, his stocky frame at 6’9 convinced both the Spurs and Hawks to deploy him as a center for significant swaths of time. While Barlow is bigger than, say, Onyeka Okongwu, he doesn’t have the skill set Okongwu has that is required to be an effective undersized center. He isn’t a natural rim protector, and his rebounding is lackluster at the five but above average at the four.
This season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Barlow has found his groove. The Sixers are not asking him to play center, and consequently, the big man suddenly looks like a real NBA-caliber forward – one of Atlanta’s most significant holes in their roster.
Barlow is averaging 8.9 points and 5.6 boards in 26.6 minutes a night on an impressive 64.4% from two point range. All of these figures are career highs, proving that Barlow is indeed an NBA-caliber player in the right system.
The Hawks have no forward depth, and consequently, their team defense and rebounding have suffered. With Barlow as another big body to accompany Onyeka Okongwu down low, Atlanta would be in a much better position to compete this season. Instead, the team declined his option this offseason, leaving an empty roster spot.
The Hawks made a clear decision regarding Barlow: they deemed his contract to be worth less than the cap space opened by his departure. This was a grave miscalculation from GM Onsi Saleh in what will be remembered as his first mistake the leader of the Hawks’ front office.