Soaring High: The NBA Debut of Daeqwon Plowden

With just over 4 minutes left in the first quarter of Wednesday night's game against the Bulls, Daeqwon Plowden made his NBA debut as he checked into the game.

39 seconds later,

Bogdan Bogdanović found him open in the corner and

Plowden buried a 3 without hesitation for his first career bucket.

The ball finding the bottom of the net was not the beginning of the 26-year-old’s story. Instead, it was the inflection point on a path already begun. It’s when his story turned into something memorable – the moment he had been building to, working for – and when the opportunity was earned, he took it and soared. 

Plowden spent his collegiate years at Bowling Green, never missing a game and making 113 starts for the Falcons. When he graduated, he was the school’s all-time leader in games played and ranked fourth in total blocks, first in offensive rebounds, and fourth in total rebounds. He also earned MAC All-Defensive Team honors in 2022, Second-team All-MAC honors (2020), and Third-team All-MAC honors (2021, 2022). 

Despite his college success, Plowden was not selected in the 2022 NBA Draft. However, he did receive interest from the New Orleans Pelicans and ultimately ended up on their Summer League roster, which he converted into a training camp invite. Unable to make the Pelicans’ opening night roster, Plowden turned to the G League, spending the 2022-23 season with the Birmingham Squadron. He spent 2023-24 with the Osceola Magic, also of the G League, where his numbers increased considerably, averaging 14.0 points per game, up from 8.3 the season before, and shooting 41.2% from deep, up from 29.5% the previous season. 

His performance earned him a two-way contract with the Warriors this past summer, but Golden State opted to go in a different direction, waiving Plowden a couple of months later. Atlanta quickly scooped him up, and the Bowling Green product ended up on his third G League squad, the College Park Skyhawks, where his performance earned him a two-way contract with the Hawks on Dec. 27. 

Less than three weeks later and down Trae Young (ribs), De’Andre Hunter (foot), Jalen Johnson (shoulder), Larry Nance Jr. (hand), and Zaccharie Risacher (hip), Atlanta needed reinforcements. Plowden received the call and was ready to answer. 

After his first shot fell in the United Center on Wednesday night, Plowden reeled off six more successful attempts, including four 3s, not missing until 4:43 remained in the game. The result was a 19-point, four-rebound performance on 7-of-8 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point land, and a 110-94 win over the Bulls. 

Plowden’s debut doesn’t just look great on paper – it was truly impressive. His five made 3s were the most by a Hawks player in their first NBA game, and it was the second most made 3s in a debut by a player from any team since 2020. He also tied Dereck Lively II for the most efficient debut by a player scoring at least 15 points since 2020. Maybe most impressively, he joined Kendrick Nunn and Andre Ingram as the only undrafted players since the ABA merger to score 19 or more points in their debut. 

There’s no guarantee Plowden will ever step foot on an NBA court again for a regular-season game, and he was already sent back to the College Park Skyhawks early Thursday morning.

If the Hawks remain healthy, he’ll likely remain in the G League, building and working his way to his next opportunity.

However, his performance put him on every team’s radar, if he wasn’t already, and showed he could play at an NBA level. In the meantime, Plowden will continue grinding and waiting for his next chance to soar.