Atlanta Hawks officially announce Utah and Las Vegas Summer League roster

On Friday, Michael Cunningham of the AJC shed light on the Atlanta Hawks roster for both the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues. Some of the inclusions were widely expected, headlined by first round picks Trae Young and Omari Spellman, with others like John Collins and Tyler Dorsey making complete sense given youth and current standing within the organization.

Still, it will be interesting to follow some of the newcomers (even without Kevin Huerter available to play) and, when looking deeper beyond the obvious names, prospects will be scratching and clawing with an eye toward training camp invites and, in a perfect world, roster spots for the future.

Now, the Hawks have officially announced the Summer League roster and it can be found here in alphabetical order.

• Jaylen Adams (G, St. Bonaventure) - Former A-10 Player of the Year and Hawks two-way contract recipient
• Antonius Cleveland (G/F, Southeast Missouri State) - 24-year-old wing; signed in late February, appeared in four games
• John Collins (C/F, Wake Forest) - 2017 first round pick (No. 19 overall)
• Tyler Dorsey (G, Oregon) - 2017 second round pick (No. 41 overall)
• Kevin Huerter (G, Maryland) - Will not play with injury - 2018 first round pick (No. 19 overall)
• Robert Johnson (G, Indiana) - Non-roster invitee. Averaged 14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last season
• Alpha Kaba (C, France) - 2017 second round pick (No. 60 overall); 22-year-old appeared in five Summer League games last year
• Jock Landale (C, St. Mary’s) - Non-roster invitee. Averaged 21.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game last season.
• Zach LeDay (F, Texas Tech) - Non-roster invitee; Averaged 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds during final college season, played in Israel during 2017-18 campaign
• Jaylen Morris (G/F, Molloy) - 22-year-old wing; appeared in six games before suffering season-ending injury
• Junior Robinson (G, Mount St. Mary’s) - 5’5 guard; averaged 22.0 points, 4.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game last season
• Brandon Sampson (G, LSU) - 6’4 guard; appeared in 85 games over three collegiate seasons
• Zach Smith (F, Texas Tech) - 6’8 forward; All-Big 12 Honorable Mention as a sophomore and junior
• Omari Spellman (C/F, Villanova) - 2018 first round pick (No. 30 overall)
• Trae Young (G, Oklahoma) - 2018 first round pick (No. 5 overall)

It is important to note that not every player listed will necessarily appear in both Utah and Las Vegas, with a player like John Collins seemingly serving as a candidate for early shutdown given his previous level of performance.

Beyond that, the absence of both Isaiah Taylor and Andrew White III could speak volumes. Taylor has a $300,000 contract guarantee on June 30 (pushed back from an original date of June 22) and, at age 23, he would profile as a player that would potentially benefit from Summer League. White emerged as an initial reported name for the roster but, at this juncture, it is unknown as to whether he was offered a two-way qualifying offer and the 25-year-old wing could be hitting the free agent market.

DeAndre’ Bembry was expected to join the roster, but Michael Cunningham of the AJC notes that he will only participate in practice and is not on the official game roster. Later in the day, Bembry indicated (per KL Chouinard of Hawks.com) that he is not yet fully cleared for action after suffering a fractured wrist in April, though he did participate in some drills during Atlanta’s practice.

Finally, neither Damion Lee nor Josh Magette (playing with the Warriors in Sacramento and Las Vegas) is involved. While that isn’t surprising after the team declined to tender qualifying offers, both players finished last season with the Hawks and will enter unrestricted free agency this summer.

In addition, the roster could expand (or contract) based on availability and everything is fluid this time of year.

Stay tuned.