The Atlanta Hawks push to the top of the East starts this season!
When it comes to Atlanta Hawks basketball no one really bats an eye at the team going through a rebuilding process. Throughout the first half of the summer, a lot of positives have happened in Atlanta. I hope fans and spectators around the league are noticing just how great of a summer the Hawks are having. Among great achievements, the Hawks had themselves a great draft this go around. Atlanta drafted three solid prospects in Trae Young, Omari Spellman, and Kevin Huerter.
Let’s take a look at their resumes and performances in this year’s summer league:
Trae Young (PG) – Oklahoma
When the Hawks traded away Luka Doncic for Young I was quite skeptical, but Young has been nothing but impressive during the summer leagues in Utah and Vegas. The PG finished top-five in assists, and in Vegas, he shot 38% from the field which was an improvement from the Utah Summer League.
The future is bright for Young, but I don’t see him being installed into the starting lineup at first. That could change if he continues to perform at a high-level during training camp and preseason.
Omari Spellman (F) – Villanova
The Big Man from Nova was a sleeper in the draft and fit right in with Atlanta with his upbeat personality. Spellman’s 6’9″ build allows him to play the three and four position which could create havoc heading into the season. He was able to land in the top-five in rebounds in Vegas with 7.7 RPG over five games. He’ll be a quality back up for John Collins, something that the Hawks lacked last season.
Kevin Huerter (SG) – Maryland
Huerter has yet to make his debut for the Hawks due to injury, but the main reason the Hawks landed him was his three-point shooting. His range is similar to Kyle Korver’s, shooting 41% from downtown in Maryland. Set a few off-ball screens to get Kevin free and he becomes a deadly offensive option. The only concern I have with him is if he’ll be 100% by the time the season starts.
Among other accomplishments, forward John Collins finished second in scoring in summer league and appears to be the face of the franchise. In Atlanta, fans and reporters are comparing him to Amare Stoudemire, and it’s accurate. Finishing at the rim is Collins strong suit, and he isn’t afraid to shoot from mid-range which creates multiple matchup problems when facing non-versatile bigs. On defense, he pays attention to detail and can guard 3-5 which is rare for a guy of his build.
Predicting the final 2018-19 starting lineup:
Trae Young (with the exception of Jeremy Lin)
Kent Bazemore
Taurean Prince
John Collins
Dewayne Desmond
Lastly, the trade with the Thunder was solely based on getting Dennis Schroder out of Atlanta. The Hawks received a first-round draft pick and Melo, but Atlanta has bought out Melo’s contract, allowing him to sign with Houston.
Atlanta has seen the worst these last few years. They might not make the postseason this year, but for once, the Hawks took a step in the right direction.