Peachtree Hoops: 2023-24 Atlanta Hawks player review: Trent Forrest

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Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images

Forrest wasn’t always called upon, but he usually provided a steady presence.

There are some players in the NBA whom coaches know they can depend upon, and in some of these cases the players may eventually follow their coach to their new respective teams. Such is this level of trust and familiarity to embody (whether it’s on or off the court) what it is you, as a coach, wish to run. Famously, Taj Gibson and Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau have united and reunited on multiple occasions for three different teams. Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder has a similar level of trust and familiarity with one such player whom he knew from his time in Utah and reunited with him in Atlanta, guard Trent Forrest.

Forrest joined the Hawks in 2022 on a two-way contract originally, before Snyder arrived to the fray, but the former Jazz coach was present in Atlanta when Forrest was brought back to ‘the A’ on another two-way contract for the 2023-24 season.

On a two-way deal, Forrest’s playing time and involvement was limited, and when he was with the team, he often didn’t see game time unless there was extensive foul trouble or blowout games. That said, Forrest saw regular minutes for much of the month of January before his contract was converted to a full NBA contract on February 29th — just under a week after Trae Young was sidelined due to a finger injury which would see him miss the next 23 games in the Hawks’ run-in.

From this point on, Forrest appeared in 15 games in March as he provided point guard cover in the absence of Young, before being phased out of the rotation in April as Young returned to the lineup.

In the end, Forrest averaged 2.2 points on 37.8% shooting from the field, 20% from three on 0.2 attempts, 1.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.5 turnovers per game in an average of 11 minutes per game in 38 games played — the majority of which took place in the months of January (11 games) and March (15 games).

Trent Forrest is a basketball player who is never going to wow you with stats. That’s just not his forte. But therein lies one of the great qualities of Forrest, of which some players should absolutely take a page out of: he knows exactly what his strengths and weaknesses are and very much plays to his strengths. He just knows exactly who he is, and it’s this in which Snyder can trust Forrest.

“We have a lot of confidence in Trent, and he really knows who he is as a player,” said Quin Snyder of Forrest after a victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder in January, a game where Forrest played a key role. “We felt, along with [Jalen Johnson], that Trent was a good matchup where we had the opportunity — during various rotation situations — we needed a matchup on Shai. Trent was able to defend and defend without fouling. On the offensive end, he’s capable of getting in the lane and making plays. He’s got a lot of poise in the lane, and he made his floater a couple of times. I think our coaching staff — and his teammates as well — have a lot of confidence in him. Tonight was a night where we felt Trent could give us something unique and he did.”

Forrest’s defensive work was usually solid, and in that OKC game he was very solid in defending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:

Forrest is also trusted to be a voice for Snyder, of sorts, to help other players acclimate to his system, which has been described in the past as complex. While Forrest admitted that there have been changes to this system since their days in Utah, Forrest has still enjoyed helping implement that system with his teammates.

“Obviously just playing for Quin, I knew his system and I knew what he was going to bring to our team,” said Forrest of playing with Snyder. “It was easy to help players when they needed it. He’s changed it a little even from when it was in Utah so some of the stuff was a little new for me but for the most part it was a lot of the same things. It was fun helping in whatever way I could.”

Forrest’s offensive work is, essentially, exclusively inside the arc, attempting just 10 threes this season. Forrest doesn’t hunt for offense, as his strength is setting up others and prioritizing others over himself. And he is a pass-first guard, reflected in averaging more assists than points, and he’s solid at doing so too, as he averages an assist/turnover ratio of 4.6 assists per turnover. When the Hawks have needed some stability, Forrest was solid in bringing that one the floor because you know exactly what you’re getting — it’s usually low-risk and sensible plays.

At the end of the season, Forrest came away believing he has improved.

“I thought it was good,” said Forrest of the season during the Hawks’ exit interviews. “Definitely felt like I got better, learned a lot. Just with the season we had, it was a lot to take away from it and just to go into the summer with things to work on.”

Going forward, Forrest is a free agent this summer and mentioned during the exit interviews that the Hawks and he would reconvene in ‘a few weeks’ to discuss the future.

It remains to be seen what Forrest’s future will look like in Atlanta, but in terms of a third point guard, Trent Forrest has proved a safe pair of hands when called upon.

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