It’s Time For An NBA Team To Call-Up Sir’Dominic Pointer

In the ongoing drama known as the NBA G League, Sir’Dominic Pointer has remained as its most interesting recurring characters. That persistence itself is rare in a league where roster change occurs at the same rate that folks do their laundry, the man that folks call Sir’Dom has made it almost a yearly tradition to rock the wine and gold in the NBA’s little brother. In each of those seasons, members of the 330 can rely on the forward to shine as one of the hardest working men and finest defenders in the league. His exploits on that end of the field should be familiar to anyone that reads this site as we featured him as Ridiculous Upside featured him as one of the finalists for G League Defensive Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season.

One year later, the wing returned for his third straight season with the Canton Charge. Although he’s with the same team and rocking a uniform that should be familiar to the 28-year-old veteran, he’s playing at a level during his first few games of the season that we haven’t seen from him. In the first five games of the season, the 6’5 wing is putting up 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks on 60% from the field and 47% from beyond the arc on 3.4 attempts per game. That efficiency has allowed him to currently maintain a 72% True Shooting Percentage and 67% effective Field Goal Percentage.

Are those numbers an example of ridiculously small sample size? Obviously! Five games is a minuscule amount of games compared to the 134 D/G League games that he participated in before making the trek to Walt Disney World. However, his performance so far during this season is raising the volume on the megaphone that folks that have been watching him in Canton have been trying to make for the last few years: he should be on an NBA roster.

Now in previous seasons, that thought came due to his work on the defensive end of the floor. Dating back to his time at St. John’s, where he was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the 2014-15 campaign. His level on the defensive end is still an incredibly high level as he’s the only player in the league to average more than two blocks and a steal per game. The fact that his per game numbers are significantly above that criteria that I created is incredible.

Despite standing as a 6’5, 200 pound wing, Pointer’s best role on the defensive end has been as a help side rim protector. That trait is due to his awareness, quick feet, athleticism, and body control that he can use to be able to block shots while keeping the ball inbounds so that Canton has a chance to push the ball back up the floor in transition.

A phenomenal example of that recently occurred in the 1st quarter of a game against the Austin Spurs. After he did a good job of preventing Robert Woodard and Jaylen Morris from getting a free path to the rim, the veteran does a great job of quickly spotting a Nate Renfro drive, moving his feet and skying up for the block. The fact that he took an angle that both prevented a foul and kept the ball in-bounds to push the Charge back on offense shows that the veteran has spent years perfecting the craft of working as a rim protector and knowing where to be on the court at all times.

While the forward has been impressive, his status as a great offensive player for this team during the first week is why I’m writing the piece that I am. While this is a small sample size and Mr. Pointer won’t be in the position to put up 16+ points per night if he lands on the NBA level, what he’s been showing in this G League bubble is enough to combine with his great defense to play 10-15 minutes in an NBA team’s rotation. According to Synergy Sports, Pointer is hitting averaging 1.33 points per possession on 12 catch-and-shoot attempts, which puts him in the 86th percentile. Although that’s obviously a small sample size, it isn’t totally surprising as he’s been average to above average in catch-and-shoot dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.

Pointer even being an average catch-and-shoot threat allows him to be a dependable offensive weapon as other teams would obviously need to close out to prevent him from having an open look. That tighter defense is great for the wing as he has a good first step to maneuver past the defender closing out. After that initial victory, the 28-year-old still possesses the athleticism to finish strong at the rim or use his 200 pound frame to finish through contact.

After how he’s shined during the first week of the bubble season combined with the defensive reputation that he’s established in prior years, it’s becoming clear that Sir’Dominic has done all that he can to show NBA teams that he has what it takes to help an NBA team out. Now, it’s up to one of the 30 squads to make the move and reap the benefits that will come from his addition.