Keaton Wallace, the final addition to the 15-man NBA roster this offseason, has been set up for failure by the Atlanta Hawks.
Wallace has been a regular fixture in the rotation thus far, playing in all four games while posting an average of 2.1 points, 1.0 assists, 1.0 rebounds, 0.3 steals, and 0.8 turnovers in nine minutes of action a night. While defense-first players usually have an impact that box scores struggle to capture, Wallace has not impressed through four games.
Despite the shaky performance, Wallace isn’t the biggest source of blame. In his first season as a pro, he has been used as a point guard in various bench lineups. The problem is that he isn’t really a point guard, at least not yet. While Wallace looks like a one at 6’3, he doesn’t walk or talk like one, showing an inability to effectively run an NBA offense in the dawn of his first season on a standard NBA contract.
This doesn’t mean Wallace cannot see the floor, but rather that he cannot play this role. Atlanta has a number of playmakers who are better equipped to handle this role outside of Trae Young, most notably Jalen Johnson, Luke Kennard, and Vit Krejci. Wallace’s deployment as a point guard is particularly confusing after considering that Krejci has only played in the two games Zaccharie Risacher missed.
While Risacher’s absence demands greater minutes from Krejci, there is no reason the Hawks should be rolling out Wallace as a lead playmaker in competitive games while Krejci earns a DNP-Coach’s Decision.
How can Quin Snyder help Wallace (and the Hawks)?
Wallace’s defense made him an obvious candidate for an NBA rotation spot, particularly considering that he joins a guard rotation starring Trae Young, one of the league’s weakest defenders. At this point in his career, however, he should be limited to a defensive specialist role in competitive games.
This isn’t to say the Hawks should give up on Wallace’s offense, but as of today, he often looks out of place when initiating. He frequently finds himself dribbling in place 10 feet above the three point line for an excessively long time while waiting for the action to develop.
In contrast, Krejci seems to never stop moving with the ball, using his own ball handling and the threat of his jumper to manipulate defenses and reduce friction. This intentional approach to ball handling is one of the little things that can drastically change the success of a possession.
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Hawks entering the season was how they would handle the non-Trae playmaking. Wallace has been one of the solutions Snyder has proposed, but this experiment has been ugly. He possesses a unique skill set as a strong guard who could be used much more creatively, such as a screener for Jalen Johnson’s downhill dominance or a true defensive stopper who slots in as a role player on the other end of the floor.
It’s not time to give up on Keaton Wallace, but his role must change ASAP to prevent him from being scapegoated for the Hawks’ early struggles.