Atlanta Hawks Sign Dominick Barlow to Two-Way Contract

The Hawks added Barlow with their last two-way deal as wing depth for the 2024-25 season

Mar 19, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) goes up for a shot between San Antonio Spurs guard Blake Wesley (14) and forward Dominick Barlow (26) at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Today has been a busy day for the Atlanta Hawks. After waiving center Bruno Fernando, they are reportedly adding a young wing with their last two-way contract. The Hawks have already given out two-way deals to Seth Lundy and Keaton Wallace, but they had one more two-way contract remaining.

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, they have decided to use it on Barlow.

Free agent F Dominick Barlow has agreed on a two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks, Todd Ramasar of @LifeSportsAGNCY tells ESPN. He played 61 games with the Spurs the past two seasons. pic.twitter.com/XIXPJDyQ7u

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2024

This is a move that makes sense for Atlanta and has a decent bit of upside. First, Barlow is only 21 years old. He went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, but latched on with San Antonio on a two-way deal. Barlow decided to play with the Overtime Elite rather than a college program and posted decent numbers that got him an invite to the NBA Combine. He put up 14.8 points on 58.5% shooting from midrange and 34% from three-point range. Holding his own against pro players at the age of 18 is a positive sign for his development.

San Antonio letting Barlow go likely is not an issue of talent and more one of roster needs. In his rookie year, he played sparingly and spent most of his time in the G League. As he grew stronger, he started to find his groove and averaged 16.1 points and 8.4 rebounds in 18 games with the Austin Spurs. He then found his way into the Spurs' rotation at the end of the year, capping off a late-season breakout with 21 points and 19 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks in the final game of the year. For some reference, he would have been the youngest NBA player to ever record a 20-20 statline with one more rebound.

He continued in a similar role in 2023-24, but showed clear signs of improvement. Rather than just being good in the G League, he started to dominate his competition. He upped his points per game to 23.7 to go along with 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. Barlow's production got him more looks at the NBA level, where he showed a good motor and quick feet to keep up with smaller players. Although undersized for a center at 6'9, he's a much better fit as a wing. Atlanta should keep him at that spot and work on developing his offensive game. There's some signs of a three-point shot (made three out of his nine three-point attempts) and he has touch as a shooter. Barlow frequently uses his floater around the rim and found some success with it, albeit limited. Around the rim, he hit 58% of his shots to pair with a shooting percentage of 48.3% from 3-10 feet and 48% from 10-16 feet. Both are better than league average. Again, all of his stats are on pretty limited volume, but there are tools to work with here.

On his two-way contract, Barlow will recieve plenty of minutes in the G League. While his numbers should continue to be impressive, the hope for Atlanta is that he'll be able to refine his defense with College Park while getting the minutes he needs to grow as a scorer. If he proves to be too good for the G League, I would not be surprised if he contributes to the Hawks' rotation towards the end of the year.

Landing a player with Barlow's upside at his age on a two-way contract is a good move by the Hawks' front office. It remains to be seen how much benefit the Hawks can extract from the deal, but it costs them practically nothing to find out if Barlow can develop into a rotation wing or even a backup center.