Feb 1, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Keaton Wallace (2) shoots the ball against Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard (26) in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
One of the more underrated storylines of the year has been the performance of Keaton Wallace. After spending multiple seasons in the G League, the 25 year-old guard has turned himself into an interesting guard option for the Hawks this season.
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.
On the year, he's averaging 17.3 minutes per game and putting up 5.8 points and 2.3 assists on 42.3/35.4/100% shooting splits. The 35.4 mark from deep is on 2.7 attempts per game, largely indicating that he's been slightly below league-average shooting for a guard. However, he hasn't been a turnover machine (1.2 turnovers per game) and held up fairly well on defense.
In the opportunities he's gotten to take on a larger role, he's shown some real flashes. The best example of this is the game against the Bulls on January 15th. The Hawks ran over the Bulls, 110-94, and Wallace scored 27 points to help them do it. He also dished out six assists and hit four threes. He hasn't hit those highs in any of his other games, but it indicates that there is a real NBA contributor in there for Atlanta to develop.
Conversely, Bufkin has higher potential coupled to potentially a lower floor. His injury history is worrying - a toe injury sidelined him for a significant part of his rookie season and he only played in 10 games of the regular season before being ruled out with a season-ending shoulder injury. In those 10 games, he averaged 5.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game on 38.3/21.1/72.2% shooting splits.
This isn't to say that the Hawks should be discarding Bufkin. Last season, his game against Kyrie Irving was very impressive for a 20-year old rookie. Bufkin played close to 13 minutes, scored nine points on 4-8 shooting from the field, and finished as a +2 while taking on the Irving assignment. He stripped Irving on a few plays and largely kept him in check during the minutes he played against him. Being able to take on one of the toughest covers in the NBA at his age is indicative of his impressive defensive potential.
However, the injuries have made it very hard for him to showcase that potential. Given what he's shown thus far, it's fair to wonder if Bufkin is more suited towards playing shooting guard. He's clearly got some burst as a scorer - he scored 43 points when playing with the Skyhawks and averaged 23.6 points per game for the 14 games he played in College Park. Dyson Daniels has taken hold of that role in the starting lineup, but Bufkin gives them a different look at that spot. If Daniels' offense holds up, they can even run a three-guard lineup of Trae, Bufkin and Daniels that slides Daniels over to play SF. His 6'8 size allows him to handle some of the responsibilties on that end.
Personally, I think this is an option the Hawks should consider. Bufkin hasn't shown latent playmaking skills and this would allow him just to focus on his scoring and defense. Being a good playmaker requires development time that Bufkin has missed out on. He's still only 21, but it might be more productive to let him narrow his focus. This would also create a chance for Wallace to assume those backup point guard minutes.
If Wallace proves unsuitable towards handling the role full-time, then Bufkin can always slide back to play there in a pinch. However, I do think that the current situation lends itself more towards Wallace being the backup point guard until Bufkin shows a better run of health and improvement as a playmaker.
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