The Atlanta Hawks are facing their first depth problem of the season ahead of a matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
Earlier today, when the injury report was released, Jalen Johnson was listed as questionable, while Jock Landale, Mouhamed Gueye, and Henri Veesaar were listed as out. Shortly after the injury report came out, the NBA handed down a one-game suspension to Hawks rookie point guard Kingston Flemings for elbowing Pelicans guard Bryce McGowens on Saturday night.
While just a rookie, Flemings is really the only true point guard that the Hawks have and he is coming off a stretch of games where he was playing well. He had the best game of his young career against Miami last Wednesday, scoring 23 points, handing out five assists, and grabbing five rebounds.
So who steps up in his absence?
The likely answer is that Aaron Wiggins plays heavier minutes and RayJ Dennis, who is one of the Hawks two-way contracts, sees his first regular season action of the season. Dennis has been a fantastic guard in the G League for the Hawks, but this is a different type of challenge. If he plays, how he does on the court could swing the game.
The biggest question for the Hawks is what they are going to do without Landale and potentially Johnson.
If both players are out, that should open up minutes in the rotation for second-year forward Asa Newell. When Landale was injured at the beginning of the game on Saturday, he came in and played over 18 minutes and finished with 13 points and four rebounds. He struggled to shoot the ball and is not a very good defender right now, but the Hawks are short on bodies right now in the frontcourt.
If Johnson is able to go, which is of course the optimal scenario for Atlanta, I still think that Newell will likely play, but it could also mean the first minutes of the season for rookie Zuby Ejiofor . During the preseason, Ejiofor played the third center minutes, but did not get a lot of run there in terms of minutes. He is supposed to be able to bring physicality and toughness to the position, but the shooting is a real question.
One wildcard option could be Dorian Finney-Smith. He has played as a small-ball center before at other stops, but he has not seen much action for the Hawks and Atlanta might prefer playing Newell or Ejiofor.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/hawks/onsi as Hawks Depth Will Be Tested on Monday Following Kingston Flemings Suspension .
