Could John Jenkins crack the rotation for the Atlanta Hawks?

The Atlanta Hawks are very deep this season. The organization has amassed a nice collection of talent in recent years, and as a result, the Hawks are in a situation in which they basically have no “position battles” during training camp, with 15 players under guaranteed contracts and no one “clawing” for a roster spot. However, Bradford Doolittle of ESPN has put forth an interesting theory in assigning shooting guard John Jenkins to his list of NBA player who “might be in line for more minutes this season”.

Here is what Doolittle had to say about Jenkins:

"Jenkins was limited by injuries last season, but has looked quicker in preseason with a heightened ability to make plays off the dribble. His 3-point marksmanship is a given, and Atlanta needs to replace the minutes vacated by Lou Williams, now in Toronto."

There is no question all reports indicate a bounce back from Jenkins in terms of athleticism and health, and with that, he has played 24 minutes in each of the first two preseason games. The results have been quite solid, with the former Vanderbilt star connecting on 10 of his 13 field goal attempts and 3 of his 5 three-point attempts, and while it is a very small window, that is certainly positive.

At the same time, it is very tough to envision a scenario in which John Jenkins could actually crack the regular playing rotation for the Atlanta Hawks. Heading into the preseason, Jenkins was considered by many to be the 15th out of the 15 players on the roster, and even if that has moved up a touch after his fine work in October, Atlanta still has many options in front of him, including Dennis Schröder and Shelvin Mack (who the Hawks will deploy in two-PG sets), Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefolosha.

The shooting element is Jenkins’ best argument for playing time, as he is arguably the best pure shooter on the roster that isn’t named “Kyle Korver“. Still, the 6-foot-4 guard lacks traditional athleticism at the shooting guard position, and because of that, he has always had a hard time defending at the NBA level.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out, but for now, what do you think about John Jenkins and his future in Atlanta? Let the folks at ATL All Day know your opinion in the comments, be sure to follow the site on Twitter at @ATLBeatBlog.