Under-the-radar Hawks prospect could turn into secret weapon

The Atlanta Hawks have gotten off to a rocky 4-7 start this season, mixing flashes of potential with signs of youth and immaturity. Atlanta’s current starting lineup has an average age of 23.6 years, including 30-year-old Clint Capela. 

The new-look Hawks have made some young mistakes on offense, but their most glaring problem is their porous defense. Ranked 26th in defensive rating, Atlanta has allowed 121.6 points per game this season. Despite an offseason emphasis on surrounding Trae Young with more size and length, the Hawks still own one of the worst defenses in the NBA.

Meanwhile, defense has been a totally different story for Atlanta’s G League team. The College Park Skyhawks have boasted the best defense in the G League for over a year now, and they picked up right where they left off in their Nov. 8 season opener. The Skyhawks held the Washington Wizards’ G League squad to 95 points in a come-from-behind road win.

Dominick Barlow – a young two-way player who joined Atlanta over the summer – led the charge for College Park. Barlow stole the show on both ends of the floor, dropping 23 points and seven rebounds with a whopping five blocks. The former Spur shot 8/12 from the field and a perfect 2/2 from downtown.

Barlow’s five rejections set a franchise record for most blocked shots in a Skyhawks debut. He also led both teams in plus-minus with a +19 mark across 31 minutes of action.

Dominick Barlow could provide the Hawks with a two-way spark

At just 21 years old, Barlow has a lot of room to grow and develop his game while he rotates between a leading role with the Skyhawks and a reserve role with the Hawks. As he displayed in College Park’s season opener, Barlow has huge defensive promise. Not only does he protect the rim, but he also guards the pick-and-roll quite well for someone his age. 

Barlow possesses one of the most unique two-way skill sets in the NBA. At 6-foot-9 and just 216 pounds, he is very mobile for a big man. His movement and athleticism could allow him to bring the kind of seamless drop coverage the Hawks are often lacking. 

Offensively, Barlow excels as a scorer just outside of the restricted area and in the short midrange area of the court. He makes opposing drop coverages pay with some wicked touch on deep floaters and push-shots. 

Unlike most bigs in the league, Barlow prefers to go to work in the short roll. Instead of cutting hard to the rim, he will roll to around the free-throw line and put his sublime touch to work. Even without a pick-and-roll setup, Barlow comfortably gets to his spots for floaters and push-shots with disciplined off-ball movement. His versatility also allows him to act as a dribble-hand-off hub with the ability to put the ball on the floor more easily than someone like Capela.

While the youngster has sky-high potential, he still hasn’t fully developed some crucial skills he will need to make a consistent impact for Atlanta. Barlow has a hard time finishing around the rim against the defense of stronger bigs, often struggling to gain proper post positioning for good inside looks. His relative lack of strength can hamper his positioning on both offense and defense, making him susceptible to young mistakes.

Barlow’s finesse and variety would give Atlanta a different kind of element in their frontcourt, but the former Overtime Elite product still needs to get better at executing hard cuts to the basket on traditional pick-and-rolls. This is a must-have skill for any big man playing next to Ice Trae and his otherworldly playmaking.

At Skyhawks Media Day in October, Barlow talked to Soaring Down South about his individual goals for improvement heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

“I think just making open shots, just getting back to basics,” Barlow said. “And guarding on switches. I think those two things.”

Barlow is keeping things simple as he looks to take the next leap in his NBA career. With the potential to make a difference for the Hawks down the road, Barlow could emerge as Atlanta’s secret weapon.