Hawks Sign Paul Watson on 10-Day Contract
The Hawks agreed to a 10-day contract with Paul Watson on Saturday, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported. The team confirmed the report with a press release on Monday. (Two-way contracts cannot be officially signed until Janauary 5, thus the gap between Charania's report and the Hawks' release.)
The 6-foot-6 wing had been playing for the Raptors 905 in the G-League, averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, after spending the previous two seasons with the Westchester Knicks. He will near number 2.
The Hawks have had only 14 players on the roster since waiving Tyrone Wallace, and Watson could provide the team with a lift both from beyond the arc and on the glass. In 13 G-League games, he shot 46.7 percent on over seven 3-point attempts per game and shot 53.3 percent overall from the field -- solid efficiency given how many 3-pointers he takes. Watson played four years at Fresno State prior to being selected fifth overall in the 2017 G-League Draft, posting over 11 points and five rebounds per game his senior year.
It remains to be seen how much he'll actually play for the Hawks, but he could provide reliable floor spacing and defensive versatility as a combo forward while the Hawks weather a recent rash of injuries. Given Toronto's history of finding and developing unheralded players, signing a shooting wing from that organization seems, at first blush, like a worthy gamble.
It's unclear how long the 25-year-old Watson will stick around in Atlanta. The Hawks could simply let his 10-day contract expire or keep him around on another 10-day, a rest-of-season contract, a two-way deal (they'd likely have to part with Charlie Brown to do this), or a G-League contract. Should he prove useful in whatever role he plays over the next 10 days, he might be worth keeping in order to give the Hawks some shooting and energy off the bench.
