2019 NBA Mock Draft: Will the Knicks’ big gamble pay off?

It’s tough to imagine a better wing duo to pair with playmaker Trae Young in Atlanta long-term than Kevin Huerter, last year’s No. 17 pick, and Culver, a long, dynamic playmaker on the wing. Huerter has drawn comparisons to Klay Thompson already should his defense develop to the level of Thompson. As former Warriors executive Travis Schlenck makes his impression felt as general manager of the Hawks, those comparisons won’t stop. That shouldn’t dictate how Atlanta builds its team — Culver is the type of secondary playmaker and team defender that makes the great teams go. The Hawks already think in these grandiose terms, looking to flip forward Taurean Prince on his rookie deal and drafting somewhat for fit in the first year of a rebuild. They want to win a championship, and Culver is a winning player.

Culver is in a bit of a dry spell toughing it out in the competitive Big 12. In two games this week, Culver scored 11.5 points per game to go with four rebounds and 2.5 assists, far below his season averages as Texas Tech’s talent deficiency catches up to the Red Raiders. At 18-5, they’ve already given themselves enough of a cushion that we will most likely see Culver highly seeded in the NCAA tournament but his inability to rise above their struggles is concerning. Yet Culver’s ability to overcome the strife of the past few games and recover in time to lead the Red Raiders to a solid run during March Madness will go a long way to reassure NBA teams of his intangibles.

Because it’s so much fun, let’s go ahead and get reckless with the Hawks-Warriors comparisons due to Schlenck’s connection. If Young is the Hawks’ Steph Curry and Huerter is their Thompson the it only seems fair to saddle Culver with another unnecessary comp and call him Atlanta’s Andre Iguodala eventually.