The Atlanta Hawks trimmed their roster from 16 to 14 today, waiving Charles Bassey and Lamont Butler to meet the 15-man rotation requirement for opening night. While the team has a remaining roster spot, the core of the roster has been finalized for now.
By waiving Bassey, Atlanta has unofficially named N’Faly Dante its third-string center. While most third-string centers rarely see the floor, Dante will have a larger role than most in his situation due to Kristaps Porzingis’s injury history.
Porzingis has missed at least 20 games in all but one season since his tragic ACL tear that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2018-2019 season. Worse, he has averaged just 49.5 games played over the past two seasons. Given Porzingis’s injury record, Dante will be a key piece of the rotation for the 20+ games Porzingis misses.
Dante was a five-star high school prospect, in part due to his ridiculous physical gifts. He would commit to Oregon, where he had a successful five-year career that culminated in the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player award and two All-Pac-12 First Team selections.
Dante, who will celebrate his 24th birthday tomorrow, is an interesting player for the Hawks to gamble on, as he is neither experienced nor particularly young. He played in just four NBA games during his rookie season last year, averaging a productive 6.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 12.8 minutes a night for the Rockets. Dante showed his full potential in the G League, tallying an eye-popping 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and 1.0 steals a game for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Dante is the big Onsi Saleh has been looking for
In his first interview as the Hawks GM, Onsi Saleh said that “one of the things we've talked about for a long time is having a developmental big.” Saleh seemingly found his guy in Dante, who probably isn’t quite ready for the role he will assume in Atlanta.
Despite his age, there is reason to believe Dante can improve with time; he picked up the game late and has the physical tools to be a dominant interior center. He was a defensive monster in his four preseason games, racking up three steals and a block in 21 minutes against Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat. While his massive frame would suggest otherwise, Dante is surprisingly nimble on the perimeter, enabling him to be a solid pick and roll defender.
The question with Dante is on the other end of the floor. He simply seemed irrelevant in many offensive possessions, quietly lurking in the dunker's spot and waiting for a rebounding opportunity. When he gets a solid look, however, there are few finishers better than Dante; he finished in the 100% percentile of rim finishers in his final collegiate season. Critically, he has a soft touch around the rim, converting on 77.1% of his non-dunk rim attempts.
Coach Quin Snyder will have to find ways to involve Dante in the offense. The most obvious role for the big man is as a screener, where his bruising strength and excellent downhill offense can be put on full display. Once the team finds a role for Dante, however, they will be in fantastic shape.
The sophomore center is primed for a leap as he adds NBA reps to his name. He has all the tools to be an elite third-string option when Porzingis or Okongwu inevitably miss time, and he has proven he is far too good for the G League. Don’t be surprised if we look back on the N’Faly Dante acquisition as the most underrated move of the offseason.