Atlanta Hawks: Omari Spellman provides intrigue off the bench

The combination of shooting and defensive upside should result in rookie Omari Spellman carving out a decent role for the Atlanta Hawks.

As the Atlanta Hawks ventured into the rebuilding phase this offseason, one of the questionable things they did was fill the roster with several big men. In total, Atlanta’s frontcourt group consists of Alex Len, Miles Plumlee, John Collins and Dewayne Dedmon.

Despite a robust group of big men on the roster, one of the most intriguing could be rookie center Omari Spellman.

A five-star recruit two years ago, Spellman finished his lone season at Villanova with averages of 10.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 39 starts, assisting the Wildcats on the path to their second NCAA championship in three seasons.

Striking while the iron was hot, Spellman declared for the draft and went 30th overall to the Hawks. While he was Atlanta’s third first round pick of the night, Spellman has an enticing skill-set, one that differs from the fellow big men on the roster.

When it comes the modern big man, you want one who is mobile and can jump out to the perimeter just as fast as he can work from block to block. Having a decent wingspan allows him to recover on bigs and alter shots at the rim, and help closeouts on perimeter shooters.

At Villanova, Spellman was able to defend guards on switches throughout the season and with a 7’2″ wingspan, he was able to bother shooters to the tune of 59 blocks on the year. Spellman also finished with a 96.7 defensive rating for Villanova, the highest among players in their rotation.

Offensively, he flashed some the skills in Sunday night’s game that made him a pretty intriguing draft prospect.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1054167994992074752

In his NBA debut, Spellman came off the bench and finished with 17 points in a 133-111 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. While fellow rookie Trae Young delivered a masterpiece with 35 points and 11 assists, Spellman came in, finished with a +15 plus/minus and knocked down four 3-pointers in five attempts.

Spellman’s long range shooting is what will separate him from other frontcourt players in Atlanta. In his lone collegiate season, Spellman knocked down 43.3 percent of his 3-point attempts and even made 70 percent of his free throws, via Hoop-math.com. A fairly decent shooting profile. The combination of spacing the floor and good defense could result in Spellman getting plenty of minutes later in the season.

For the Atlanta Hawks, you can surely nitpick some of his first performance though. Spellman didn’t make much of an impact on the glass, finishing with just one rebound, and he had four fouls as well. Both will need to tighten up before he can make a jump into the starting lineup.

Still, the Hawks have a big man who could partner well with second-year forward John Collins. Collins’ play type is more of a rim-running big man who can finish around the basket and get rebounds. That skill-set could take pressure off Spellman as a rebounder, but put even more on his outside shooting.

Another option is placing Spellman alongside Taurean Waller-Prince in smaller lineups. Atlanta could move to play Spellman at center, with Waller-Prince at the 4 and rookie Kevin Huerter at the 3, giving Atlanta two frontcourt shooters in spurts.

With so many big men already on the roster, it may take some time for Omari Spellman to see the floor once Dedmon and Collins return from injury. However, once the rookie does see the floor, his ability to move on defense, plus the potential to shoot the ball, could allow him to quickly etch out a rotation spot in Atlanta as it navigates through a rebuilding season.