Spurs' Dominick Barlow Ready to Showcase Potential in G League
The San Antonio Spurs are in the early stage of a rebuilding effort. There's an added importance when it comes to bringing in young talent to evaluate whether they have a long-term place within the organization.
Among the prospects that the Spurs are taking a chance on is Dominick Barlow, who is currently signed to a two-way contract after going unselected in this year's draft. The 6-foot-9 forward opted not to play collegiate basketball and instead played for Team Overtime of Overtime Elite (OTE).
Barlow will spend much of his time with the Austin Spurs, the team's G League affiliate. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich envisions Barlow's development benefitting significantly by spending time in the G League instead of sitting on the bench during the Spurs' regular season games.
“He’s at the very beginning,” Popovich said. “He’ll spend some time in the G League and play lots of minutes. If he was with us right now, he’s not going to get on the court that much, which doesn’t help him develop. We’ve had so many guys over the years develop in the G League. That will be his path probably.”
The 6-foot-9 forward has shown the ability to play multiple positions. He sees himself as a positionless player with the ability to play on the wing and the potential to serve as a small ball five. He averaged 6.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 7.1 minutes per game during his two preseason appearances.
“I just consider myself a basketball player,” Barlow said. “The game has become so positionless, you got to really be ready to guard everybody and be able to do a lot of different things on offense. So, I guess you could say I’m a forward, small-ball five sort of thing, but I am kind of positionless.”
Barlow sees a significant opportunity with the Spurs amid their youth movement. He has found it helpful to have so many teammates that are going through a similar stage of their NBA career.
“It’s really unique situation,” Barlow said. “A lot of rookies go to teams where they haved a lot of old guys and you kind of have to just sit back. But we are all really young. Everyone has just kind of bonded together and are just kind of going through the same thing. It’s not like we are in different phases. We are all kind of all like in the same phases of life.”
With being signed to a two-way deal, Barlow understands that he has to earn everything that he gets through hard work. It will require staying patient in the long run and trusting that results will follow.
“I just keep getting better, working on myself and just staying patient,” Barlow said.
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