ATLANTA HAWKS TOP-3 DRAFT TARGETS: 20TH OVERALL PICK
It has been a few weeks, but the sting of the Atlanta Hawks playoff exit is still lingering for us hardcore fans. Especially, when you couple in the success the Milwaukee Bucks had in this year’s NBA Finals. It just kind of makes you think what could have been…
Nevertheless, the Hawks have shifted their focus toward the NBA Draft and free agency. Newly-minted head coach, Nate McMillan, & GM, Travis Schlenk, are approaching what might be the biggest offseason in franchise history. Free agent forward, John Collins, and his ongoing contract negotiations, have become a hot [and polarizing] topic in the city. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this drawn-out contract situation, and how it well impact the team moving forward.
Why is this potentially such a huge offseason for the Hawks? It is for the simple fact that this young Hawks team has now placed BIG expectations on their shoulders. Fans in Atlanta fully believe that this team can be a championship contender, and build a winning team culture for years to come. The question for the front office and coaching staff this offseason has to be: “How can we tweak the roster, to not only get back to where we were, but to get us over the hump and clinch an NBA Finals berth?”
With the draft rapidly approaching as we near month’s end, this is where the Hawks have made their bread and butter in recent memory. We have finally reached the land of promise…again: no lottery picks or a top-five draft pick to be sweating over, but please do not let that discourage you in regard to drafting talented players. Schlenk has now gained a reputation across the league for making sneaky-good picks with his mid-round selections (i.e. Collins & Kevin Huerter). Let’s just toss in the fact that Schlenk has been excellent at drafting talent overall (i.e. Trae Young, DeAndre Hunter & Cam Reddish). The fanbase must trust that the brass knows what they are doing at this point, because truthfully, they have not let us down. Let’s give credit where credit is due, this front office has built a title contender from the ground-up in a very short amount of time. The product they have put out on the floor has been nothing short of fantastic, and is quite literally, growing up in front of our eyes!
Praiseworthy or not, the Hawks still have some holes they could patch up in this year’s draft. This is a deep draft class, loaded with a lot of solid players. There is a ton of value where the Hawks are picking at number 20, and if they choose wisely, they could very well add another young-cog to help this well-oiled Hawks machine.
Is a new back-up point guard something to consider heading into the draft? In my opinion, this should be the focus of the Hawks with 20th overall pick. Guards, Lou Williams & Brandon Goodwin, are both heading into free agency, and this could be a golden opportunity to select one of the many athletic guards from this class and get them on a rookie deal. Another route the Hawks should consider of importance, would be to draft a reliable back-up center to Clint Capela. Either a rim-protecting big man that can give quality minutes off the bench or a prospect with a higher offensive ceiling and potential. Capela had a great season, but one glaring weakness in his game was his ability to finish NON-alley oop type plays around the rim.
Check out below to see who the Hawks should target in this year’s draft:
Jared Butler (G-Baylor)
- Why I like Butler? He is an athletic-combo guard that would complement Trae tremendously as his primary back-up man. To compare it to the NFL, Trae could be the change-of-pace back on first and second down, while Butler would be the third down bruiser. If you ever watched him play at Baylor, Butler had a very smooth game. His calm and composed demeanor on the court led them to an NCAA Championship and should immediately translate to the league. Butler also boasted a very respectable three-point shot in his final season at Baylor (Butler shot almost 42% from behind the arc). He has the physical tools and an NBA-ready body. Butler seems like a guy that could assimilate quickly and contribute from day one.
- What I don’t like about Butler… Can Butler be the reliable back-up we have been searching for? At Baylor, Butler did have the luxury of playing with another ball-dominant guard in Davion Mitchell, who could be a potential lottery pick himself. Can the Hawks count on Butler to come off the bench and lead an entire second unit by himself? This will include running with guys like, Danilo Gallinari, or any combination of Bogdan Bogdanovic/Huerter/Reddish, plus Onyeka Okongwu. One could assume he would be able to handle the secondary point guard duties, but that is a legitimate question and concern.
Kai Jones (C/F-Texas)
- Why I like Jones! Jones is a very interesting prospect. A lot of mock drafts do not have him going past pick 16. In a world that Jones did fall to The Hawks at pick 20, they would need to seriously consider drafting him with their selection. If you look at his numbers, Jones had a rather tame year in his lone season with Texas. He did show some promising ability to stretch the floor at 6 feet and 11 inches, by posting a 38% clip from beyond the arc. His springy bounce and athleticism also lead him to average almost a steal and block per game on the defensive side of the court. If he consistently can hit those long-range jumpers, and develop into the rim-protector big man he looks like he can be; it draws a lot of comparison to another former-Longhorn player, Myles Turner.
- Why I don’t like Jones… Jones is a project and sometimes projects do not pan out for the better. Most Hawks fans probably have PTSD from old front office regimes and previous draft selections described as “projects” or “raw-talent with untapped-potential” (see Marvin Williams, Josh Childress, Sheldon Williams, etc.). The Hawks are most likely looking for a player that can contribute to the cause sooner rather than later. It is not a given that Jones fits that bill. If Kai was to join the Hawks, all they could really expect or ask from him is to come off the bench for spot minutes, and leave it all on the floor. A bit similar to how they rolled out Okongwu this season (which will be interesting to see if his roll expands, based on his play and the John Collins contract situation).
Sharife Cooper (G-Auburn)
- Why I like Cooper! First off, he is a hometown kid! The McEachern High School stand-out and former McDonald’s All American had himself a season at Auburn. He touted a stat line of 20.2 points per game, 8.1 assists per game, and an impressive 4.3 rebounds per game as a 6-foot 1 guard. The guy knows how to play on the offensive end simply put! With numbers like that and an aptitude to play team basketball, similar to a Trae Young, there would be no drop-off for when Young heads to the bench.
Why I don’t like Cooper… Now for all is prowess on the offensive side of the ball, there are some serious red flags that come with drafting Cooper. First off is his size, which some may argue is not a big deal, considering how great Trae Young has been as an undersized guard in the modern-NBA. But Ice Trae is an anomaly and a bona-fide star in this league. To have a guy basically similar in stature, come off the bench essentially becomes a Brandon Goodwin 2.0, plus The Hawks could not roll out a line-up of, Young and Cooper, at the same time (like they could if they drafted Jared Butler from Baylor). His lone season at Auburn was marred by a bad ankle injury and an 11-game suspension, after the NCAA investigated his eligibility. This limited him to only play in 12 games which does not give the sample size the Hawks may need to feel comfortable at selecting him 20th overall.
