5. Justin Hamilton
2016-2017 Season Stats: 50 GP, 6.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 0.9 APG
Justin Hamilton was a signing that received little fanfare, but has paid dividends thus far. He is an athletic jump-shooting center that has legitimate three-point range. He played the previous season overseas, so he wasn’t well-known when he came back to the NBA.
Hamilton has been a streaky shooter this season, but continues to get the green light from Coach Atkinson. When he is on, his shot is very good, and a big lift to the team. His athleticism also helps him get up for offensive rebounds and athletic put-backs.
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On defense, Hamilton doesn’t use his size to his advantage as often as he could. He is a legitimate seven-footer, but gets pushed around by smaller players. He puts himself in good position defensively, but is unable to use his strength to keep players from scoring the basketball.
Hamilton has been a good addition to the rotation for Coach Atkinson. He must improve on defense if he wants to hang around for the future, though. Hopefully he can be a more consistent scorer once the guards start to run the offense more efficiently.
For the remainder of the season, Hamilton needs to work on gelling better with the second unit. He makes flashy plays often, but needs to use his size and athleticism to his advantage more often. The Nets front office is going to have a hard time this offseason deciding whether to bring him back for the 2017-18 season or release him in free agency.