State of the Atlanta Hawks: Wings

In the coming weeks, Peachtree Hoops’ Hood Zach will go through a state of Atlanta Hawks‘series. The series will bring down the roster from both a basketball and asset creation perspective in an attempt to access where the franchise is located after being excluded from the 22-team Orlando bubble.

In a relatively short period of time, Travis Schlenk (predictably) transformed the role of Atlanta Hawks from top to bottom. The wing position was no exception. Far from the time of the now established veteran role players Kent Bazemore and Taurean Prince, Atlanta now sits with a trio of young wings that each have their own brand of intriguing advantage.

Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish make up 60 percent of the legendary ‘Core Five’ which has been immensely cited by the 2019 NBA draft. With the acquisition of Clint Capela, it apparently now becomes a “Core Six”. Assuming that part of the Hawks’ hat space is spent on another wing, head coach Lloyd Pierce will potentially have the strongest and most versatile set of wings he has had since he became head coach in Atlanta.

Kevin Huerter, SG, 22 years old, 2 years old, $ 7.02 million left – Free agent limited in 2022

Huerter’s first two seasons have been equally promising and frustrating at times. His shooting gravity is very real and, when he starts, makes the rest of the Atlanta offense much more impossible to stop. If Huerter is rolling, the Hawks can typically beat any team in the league if Trae Young and John Collins are having their typical game.

Frustration with Huerter was primarily related to injury. As a beginner, he only lost seven games, but would probably have started much more than 59 games if he hadn’t fought a hand injury causing him to lose the Summer League and a large majority of his pre-debutant summer.

This season, a knee injury that played during the stretch has limited his penetration ability, and has not been nearly as effective on the whole. Huerter also struggled to improve his finish and the creation of the free throw near the edge, which is a point of potential focus in the future. If Huerter could put it all together and stay healthy in the third year, he and Young could emerge as one of the first courtyards of the Eastern Conference.

De’Andre Hunter, SF / PF, 23 years old, 3 years old, remaining $ 25.01 million – Free agent limited in 2023

Hunter had a strange rookie season where he was really good at attacking by rookie standards, but he didn’t live up to his defensive reputation. On a university level, Hunter was an excellent defender and this was the centerpiece of his appeal. As a novice, he struggled a bit and was definitely not overall positive.

There are, however, many reasons to be optimistic about an overall choice no. 4 of just a season ago, which was making the transition from Virginia’s “packline” defense to the variety of modern defensive systems deployed in the NBA. It still has large dimensions and strength which can provide versatility and the learning curve is steep for many beginners.

Offensively, Hunter has the potential to be close to or with a 40 percent three-point shooter, and has an interesting mid-range game with the ability to take advantage of misalignments. So even if he delivers some of the defensive things he should have had, he will become a valuable NBA player.

Cam Reddish, SF, 21 years old, 3 years old, $ 15.08 million left – Free agent limited in 2023

By now, it has been literally discovered that the beginning year of Reddish has been the tale of two seasons. He was one of, if not the worst offensive player in the NBA for the first few weeks of his NBA career. Rossastro, like Huerter, lost the Summer League the year he was drafted because of an injury.

The struggles of those first handfuls of games could have been avoided if he had been able to play in the 2019 Summer League and use that summer to develop. Alas, Reddish was a helpful NBA player at the January launch, and one of the strongest wing defenders in basketball. His three-point shot started to fall and the rest of his offensive game was apparently unlocked.

Turning to the 2020-21 season, it is not clear which wings will begin alongside Young, Collins and Capela. Huerter has a natural offensive attack and, at this stage, probably projects as an initial shooting guard with the current list. From there, Hunter could have the advantage to the 3 based on a more stable and solid rookie season, especially because he was the protagonist of the vast majority of the 2019-2020 campaign. However, it is a long way off and, for what it’s worth, anything can happen in a free agency or on the commercial market to influence the pecking order.

Expiring wings

Treveon Graham and DeAndre ‘Bembry will be free agents, although one of them is likely to be reported on a minimum contract as depth. Pierce was recorded on Bembry’s love of energy during their time together, but the club may choose to go in another direction.

Contract information from Early Bird Rights; The ages listed reflect the age of the players for the 2020-21 season.