2019 NBA Mock Draft: The Boston Celtics clean up

Suddenly, the Hawks have a fully fledged core of several players already contributing to winning basketball that they need to build around. John Collins has a 63.6 true shooting percentage and scooted up to a 23.5 percent usage rate seemingly overnight after missing the beginning of the season. If you remove a rough November, Trae Young is shooting 35 percent on a heavy volume of 3s and scored 23 or more points in five straight games to end January. Finally, Kevin Huerter, a late bloomer in the 2018 draft, is shooting almost 40 percent from 3 this season, making a ton of attempts from way downtown and flashing the secondary playmaker instincts he showed in college. All this is to say the Hawks approach with this pick is different than it may have been entering the season.

Hayes balances upside with fit for Atlanta, filling the remaining hole at center and giving the team an anchor for its defense. Yet he won’t turn 19 until the end of May and has a ton of space to get better. We’ve highlighted before Hayes’ deficiencies as a screener and overall, getting bigger, using his strength and handling NBA big men will be the next challenge for him. It happens more quickly than we expect for some big men, with fellow Texas one-and-done Jarrett Allen the most recent example who became solid in the NBA almost right away despite entering the league raw.

With just a 17.4 percent usage rate and an offensive game focused on energy, Hayes could fit right in alongside the other young Hawks. Young is always going to struggle on defense and while Huerter has nice size for a two guard, he came into the NBA more for his offensive prowess. Collins has fallen off slightly as a rim protector, blocking just half a shot per 36 minutes, making Hayes’ value in a drop defense against the pick-and-roll immensely valuable projecting forward for Atlanta.