Rebuilding Atlanta Hawks drop Detroit on the road; 3 takeaways

2. Jabari Parker could be Atlanta’s secret weapon

Three other players outside of Trae Young scored double-digit points in the Atlanta Hawks’ season opener: John Collins (a quiet double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds), De’Andre Hunter (14) and Jabari Parker.

Entering the sixth year of his injury-filled career, Parker is an interesting fit on this roster. He’s not a high-profile rookie anymore like Reddish and Hunter are (though he was the No. 2 overall pick in 2014), but he’s not an aged veteran that’s a salary dump next year such as Allen Crabbe or Chandler Parsons.

Parker has found himself in a good situation as he won’t be relied on as a starter, but could work himself into a solid bench role. The Hawks have DeAndre’ Bembry and Kevin Huerter to roll off the bench for the backcourt, but Parker could provide a solid scoring boost when the team needs to rest Hunter or Collins — and he did so on opening night.

Looking to build off a solid 2018-19 season that was spent with the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls, Parker scored 18 points in 23 minutes of play. He was excellent around the basket all night, hitting 8-of-11 shots from the floor.

Parker is this year’s version of Alex Len — a reclamation project that could provide quality minutes for the team. Staying healthy will be the key for Jabari Parker, but if he does so, he could be the perfect scoring boost the second unit needs in Atlanta.