As the #19 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft Kevin Huerter out of Maryland made his way to the podium. Not knowing how to react I instantly made the comparison to Kyle Korver, but he’s much more than that. One thing to admire if you’ve never seen Huerter play is his three point shooting. In Maryland he shot an outstanding 41% from deep as he translated that good shooting in the NBA as his first two seasons shooting 38% from deep; 39% this season which is a career best.

While he’s known for his three ball, Huerter is uber efficient rebounding the ball as a guard. Averaging 4.2 rebounds a night, the Maryland product can give you 5-8 boards a night but that number could also drop to 2-4 some nights or then totally come out of nowhere and grab 15 boards as he did in Phoenix. It’s nights like he had in Phoenix that really start to make you think what does he need to be a more consistent player ? Putting up 23, 15, and 8 shouldn’t go unnoticed as he’s capable of nights like these all the time.

Kevin Huerter 2020 Stats MP FG% 3P% FT% REB AST STL PTS 27.8 .410 .393 .826 4.2 3.4 0.9 11.5

Seeing 27 minutes a night and only starting 25 out of 33 games it appears that Atlanta is still in the experiment phase as far as lineups go. Huerter should be a lock at the 2 or 3 while letting Reddish or Bembry come off the bench but that isn’t the case. His inconsistency isn’t all his fault as Atlanta has been a mere cause. What does worry me moving forward is that if he can’t get into a rhythm early, then he tends to shoot himself out of the game as his last two games he’s shot 25% and 14% from the field.

On the contrary, Huerter gets 25% of his points off the drive which caught a lot of scouts and reps off guard as he can attack the rim with confidence and jam it through over just about any defender. Since he’s gotten to the league he’s added more to his arsenal as he was a one way player in Maryland..

Atlanta’s goal heading into the 2018 Draft was to completely rebuild their roster. When they drafted Young they needed to surround him with a confident shooter who could get into a rhythm at any given moment. The end result was Huerter, but Huerter isn’t just a role player he’s a rising star who just needs some tuning of his game. The 10-34 Hawks are still going through some growing pains, but they found someone in Huerter. Don’t give up on the 21 year old!

J-Man / NoLimitJumper