Dominick Barlow was not originally on a summer league roster when the Sixers began play in Salt Lake City. The Sixers went into the session by adding undrafted rookie Hunter Sallis to a two-way spot, but had the other two occupied by players who finished out the previous season in Jalen Hood-Schifino and Alex Reese. That changed just ahead of the Vegas games as Reese was waived, Jabari Walker was signed and the Sixers used their final spot to bring in Barlow.
Another player that went undrafted, Barlow,
who originally went to high school at St. Joseph’s Prep, spent his first two seasons in the league going up and down between the San Antonio Spurs main roster and G-League team. He appeared in 65 NBA games over those two seasons before signing a two-way with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2024 offseason. In 35 games with the Hawks, he averaged 4.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game and was converted to a standard contract for the rest of the season in March. Atlanta waived the unguaranteed portion of his contract for this season.
He only appeared in two games for the Sixers in summer league, but shot 60% from the field in both of those games. He dropped 19 points along with nine rebounds and three steals in his debut. He followed it up with eight points and five boards the next game in just under 14 minutes of action.
As a 6-foot-9 forward, Barlow profiles as a jack-of-all trades while being a master of none. His sturdy frame gives him the ability to be a strong defender and rebounder in the post. Over the course of his career, he’s averaged nine rebounds and 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes. Shooting has never been his forte. He’s been a 25% three-point shooter in the NBA, never averaging more than 0.8 attempts in a season. There isn’t much hope for a ton of improvement there as he’s a career 68% free throw shooter. Last season with the Hawks, he shot just 63.6% from the line.
Between his height and shooting limitations, Barlow has all the makings of what people in baseball call a “four-A” player. He might be skilled enough to the point where he can dominate the G-League, but doesn’t quite possess enough to be useful at the next level for an extended period of time.
That’s not the worst thing to have on a two-way contract though. Players that fit that bill are certainly helpful for a game or two in a pinch. Last season, the Sixers needed those guys for more than just a pinch. Justin Edwards, Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Jared Butler all started multiple games, with Dowtin even running out of available two-way dates in the NBA before the season ended.
If the Sixers are that reliant on their two-ways for minutes again, they’ll be in another battle in the lottery to retain their first round pick, this year top-4 protected until it goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder. If they need someone to play some spot minutes in the front court for a night or two — a guy that can just grab a few rebounds and play solid defense — Barlow might be able to give that to them. While he might not help space the floor a ton, that doesn’t mean he’d be a total nothing on offense in those situations. In summer league he showed some ability to get himself open through rolls or flashing into the dunker spot.
While this two-way spot likely isn’t being used on some gem hiding in plain sight, it is being given to a player who’s shown some ability to hang at the NBA level before. Who knows, if everything goes wrong again, he could get an extended opportunity.
