Hawks player preview: Nicolas Brussino

Height/Weight: 6-8, 215

Age: 24 (3/2/93)

2017-18 salary: $1.31 million

CARMELO projected value: minus $0.2 million

How acquired: 2017 waivers (Mavericks)

OFFENSE

Brussino played 521 minutes as a Mavericks rookie in 2016-17. He jacked up a lot of 3-pointers and didn't make many of them: Brussino's three-point rate (.674) ranked 13th among players who played at least 500 minutes, and his effective field-goal percentage was 14th-worst among those players.

However, Brussino's 77 percent shooting on free throws (17 for 22) suggests he can do better. He's also shot well on 3-pointers while playing for the Argentinian national team and during the NBA summer league.

Brussino earned good reviews as a rookie for his passing ability. His 13.9 assist rate, 3.2 assists per 36 minutes and 4.7 assists per 100 possessions are respectable marks for a reserve wing on a bad team.

DEFENSE

Brussino showed some defensive potential with the Mavericks. His rates of rebounds, steals and blocks were all solid for a wing. His Defensive Real Plus-Minus of -2.42 was poor but there is likely some noise with the small sample size. FiveThirtyEight'com's CARMELO defensive metric, a combination of Real Plus-Minus and Box Plus/Minus, gave Brussino a -1.0 plus/minus and projects more improvement this season.

OUTLOOK

Brussino had modest statistical production over six years in the top Argentine league (which one analysis put on par with NCAA mid-major conferences as far as projecting NBA potential). Brussino also hasn't had a major role on Argentina's national teams during major international competitions.

Nevertheless, the Mavericks gave Brussino $100,000 guaranteed to come to camp last year and then kept him on the roster for the 2016-17 season and through this year’s summer league. The Mavericks waived Brussino days before they would have to guarantee his $1.3 million salary for this season.

The Hawks claimed Brussino off waivers and hope he can follow the path of recent wings who developed under coach Mike Budenholzer. If Brussino can shoot consistently he could provide some long-term value as a "point forward." But he isn’t likely to find much playing time this season with veterans Kent Bazemore and Marco Belinelli and draft picks Taurean Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry on the wings.

Related Mike Checks