The College Park Pipeline Has Been Extremely Successful for the Atlanta Hawks

It's very easy to dismiss the quality of an NBA team's G-League affiliate as completely unimportant. The games are not held with the same amount of attention as the NBA counterparts, the players are less known and they are constantly shuffling between NBA action and G-League action.

However, over the past three seasons, the Atlanta Hawks are a shining example of how important a quality development program can be. Players like Jalen Johnson, Keaton Wallace, Mo Gueye and Kobe Bufkin have all benefitted tremendously from their time with the College Park Skyhawks. Specifically, they've become far better defenders that can stay on the court. Their in-game processing has also improved after their experience in College Park and it's allowed them to contribute to Atlanta's roster despite minimal NBA time.

Johnson is perhaps the best example of this development. In the eight games he spent with the Skyhawks during the 2021-22 season, he averaged 22.5 points, 11 rebounds and 4.4 assists on 49.3/32.4/57.1% shooting splits. During the tip-off tournament, he averaged 20.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists on splits of 44.8/37.5/56.4%. The time he spent in College Park allowed him to gain confidence as a defender and grow as a shooter. For a young rookie coming out of Duke, that's invalauble development time that certainly helped him grow into Atlanta's power forward of the foreseable future.

Kobe Bufkin, the Hawks' next first-round pick, also used his time in the G League to great effect. During the 2023-24 season, he split time between College Park and NBA action. In the 14 games he played at the G League level, he averaged a whopping 23.6 points, 5.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds to go with 1.3 steals per game on 44.6/35.6/82.9% shooting splits. It hasn't quite paid off in the same way that it did for Johnson. Bufkin's dealt with several injuries and has missed out on very valuable development time due to his rehab. However, the signs are there for him to be a quality guard in the near future. His defense as a backup point guard shone through and it's going to be a positive in his skillset as he works through being a consistent scoring option.

Keaton Wallace has been something of a veteran in the G League and Summer League circuit. He spent a lot of time with the Clippers' G League affiliate before joining the Skyhawks in October of 2023. For two straight seasons with the Clippers, he averaged 14+ points and 4+ assists on 46.7/41/79% shooting splits while playing good defense. He then continued putting up similar numbers with the Skyhawks, turned that into a Summer League spot and had an excellent Summer League performance to earn himself a two-way contract. There's a good chance that contract turns into a regular deal later in the offseason.

Mo Gueye's monster game against the Bucks (15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks) was a statement game for the young big man as he attempts to carve out a place on Atlanta's roster. Although he didn't play much in College Park, he put up a respectable 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 stocks despite only playing 16 minutes a game. There's a NBA-quality shot blocker somewhere in there and Atlanta should feel good about its chances of bringing that potential out of him. He certainly needs time to grow on offense, but the basic defensive floor he brings cannot be undersold.

Continuing to find contributors from the G League and undrafted pool of players is going to be critical in the second-apron environment. Many of the best teams in the NBA have one or two important players on their roster that came from these ranks. Therefore, it's a good sign that the Hawks are capable of unearthing hidden contributors from their development program.

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