Jalen Wilson wasted no time making a case for himself in the Atlanta Hawks’ preseason opener.
The 25-year-old forward logged 15 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies and made them count, finishing with 12 points after checking in at 4:22 in the third quarter. Atlanta was down 115-101 when Wilson caught fire, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Hawks within 115-107 and inject some life into the bench unit.
From there, the game turned into a flurry of tradeoffs, but Atlanta never found the defensive stops it needed to fully claw back. Wilson kept pressing anyway, repeatedly getting to the free-throw line and finishing his night with an and-one off a pass from RayJ Dennis.
The result didn’t change the outcome of the game, but Wilson’s performance may have changed the conversation around his role.
Preseason always invites a little overreaction, and Wilson looks like the kind of player who can benefit from that spotlight. Atlanta already has its 15-man roster set, but there’s room for a two-way player to work his way into the picture, especially with a group developing down in College Park.
Gateway Center Arena, the 3,500-seat home base for that pipeline, has already helped develop Jalen Johnson and others, and Wilson has a similar opening if he keeps producing. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, he gives the Hawks size on the wing, plus a shooting touch and the kind of aggressive drives that can tilt a possession.
There’s still plenty of preseason runway left to see more. Atlanta has four games remaining, including matchups with the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the two Western Conference finalists. Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may not play, but those teams still bring strong starters and dependable benches, which should give the Hawks a real test.
Wilson should keep seeing the floor as the preseason rolls on, especially as starter minutes shrink and rotation spots open up. If he keeps making the most of those chances, he could become a name Atlanta has to take seriously moving forward.
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Embiid still changes everything for Philadelphia when he is healthy, but the margin for error behind him keeps getting thinner, and that matters in a postseason series where every matchup gets squeezed. The Hawks have their own frontcourt questions to answer, too, which is why internal development there remains so important if they want to turn this into a real advantage. If Atlanta can keep building up that area of the roster, the Sixers may find themselves a little more vulnerable than they expected in a head-to-head matchup. [Read more 🡒]