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NBA Draft 2018: Hawks take Kevin Huerter at No. 19

By Joseph Nation

COLLEGE PARK, MD - FEBRUARY 10: Kevin Huerter #4 of the Maryland Terrapins handles the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats at Xfinity Center on February 10, 2018 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - FEBRUARY 10: Kevin Huerter #4 of the Maryland Terrapins handles the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats at Xfinity Center on February 10, 2018 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images) /
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The Hawks take Kevin Huerter with the No. 19 pick, aiming to pair his Klay Thompson to Trae Young’s Steph Curry

With the 19th pick in the NBA draft, the Atlanta Hawks select Kevin Huerter, out of the University of Maryland.

If their selection of Trae Young at number five overall was former Warrior executive Travis Schlenk attempting to pick up an imitation Stephen Curry, then this pick is Schlenk attempting to pick up imitation Klay Thompson.  Huerter is likely to be the best pure shooter in this draft, and was highly praised for his ability to shoot on the move. He managed an impressive 41.7 percent from the college three point line on a relatively high volume of 5.5 attempts per game, but also put up a solid 39.8 percent from the NBA 3-point line, per Will Schreefer of thestepien.com.  Further, unlike most shooting prospects in this draft, he has shown the ability at the college level and in workouts to shoot in a more NBA style, curling off of screens, taking dribble hand-offs, and making cuts. Similar to Klay, he also has strong potential to be a better defender than he was in college, having demonstrated excellent athleticism at the combine that might actually match the effort level he gave in college.

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With the current state of the Hawks, Huerter doesn’t have that many pieces to worry about fitting with.  He should form a switchy wing pair with Taurean Prince, and Trae Young’s good passing vision should be effective at finding him in those cuts that Huerter can shoot off of so well.  The only other major future piece on the Hawks is John Collins, whose fit doesn’t necessarily interact with Huerter too much, but Collins and Huerter should both contribute switching potential to the Hawks like the way he fits with Prince, but their matchups likely won’t be directly switched all that often.  Still, as a general philosophy, Huerter makes sense next to all of the Hawks’ future assets.

Overall, the Hawks are aiming for all the talent they can get, and this late in the first round, Huerter makes for an amazing potential shooter that suits the modern NBA very well.

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