Mouhamed Gueye is in the midst of a breakout season, seemingly making the leap from an impactful role player to a truly elite defender. This is the first season Gueye has been included in the rotation on opening night, and the national media have taken notice.
When you watch an Atlanta Hawks game, you can’t help but notice the 6’11 guy who manages to cover half of the floor on defense. Gueye typically starts a defensive play in the corner, matched up against the opposing power forward. When the offense appears to have a paint touch, he has already rotated and is well-positioned to make a play.
The stats back up his impact, as he is the team leader in on/off differential at a whopping +27.2 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. When he’s on the floor, opponents’ offensive ratings drop by 14.7, and their effective field goal percentage (true shooting without free throws) falls by 6.8%. Hawks’ opponents also turn the ball over 2.9% more frequently in these minutes.
Gueye ranks in the 89th percentile or above in each of these stats this season, which makes him one of the most impactful players in the league by the numbers. Just when you think it can’t get better, Gueye is also a clear positive on the glass, improving the Hawks' defensive rebounding rate by 3.8% on a team that has struggled to compete on the glass. Gueye isn’t just an impactful defender; he was seemingly hand-crafted to solve all of Atlanta’s problems this season.
Gueye's impact is particularly impressive considering his spot in the rotation
The Hawks began the season with Gueye as a peripheral figure in the rotation, but have since cleared the way for a much more involved role. In Atlanta’s blowout loss to open the season, Gueye played just five minutes of garbage time. After Kristaps Porzingis, Zaccharie Risacher, and Jalen Johnson fell to injury during a two-game stretch, Gueye finally had the chance to prove himself with a pair of high-minute outings. Since proving himself, he’s averaged about 15 minutes a night.
Even 15 minutes a night is too little, however. In their two games against the Orlando Magic, Gueye has more than impressed against former first overall pick Paolo Banchero. According to Databallr, Banchero did not score once against Gueye in 13 possessions. That’s the mark of an elite defender who deserves 25+ minutes a night. While these minutes would require a significant change in the rotation, Gueye’s defense is more than worth it.
He is also a clear plus on the offensive end by the numbers, with a 90th and 98th percentile impact on the Hawks’ offensive rating and eFG%, respectively. Gueye does not appear to be this level of an offensive player at the moment, so we will table the discussion on his offensive impact until a larger sample can confirm whether Gueye is responsible for this.
Regardless of his offensive impact, however, Gueye has been one of the Hawks’ best players this season. Quin Snyder should explore different lineup combinations to make sure Gueye can see the floor as much as he deserves to.