Atlanta Hawks enter 2019-20 looking to build on young core
By Phil Watson
Storyline 2: The evolution of the young core
While the Atlanta Hawks future is squarely in the hands of Trae Young, the rest of the young core will be looking to evolve in 2019-20 as well.
In his second season, John Collins missed the first month of the season with an injured left ankle and played in only 61 games, but his evolution at the offensive end was solid.
Collins averaged 19.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 30.0 minutes per game, shooting 56.0 percent overall and 34.8 percent on 2.6 3-point tries per game.
His 3-point attempts increased by two per game, up from 0.6 as a rookie, while his free throw percentage improved markedly from the 71.5 percent he shot on almost two fewer attempts per game as a rookie.
Per-36 minutes, his scoring increased from 15.7 to 23.4 points, with a small bump in rebounding (10.9 to 11.7) and assists (2.0 to 2.4), while his block numbers dipped from 1.6 to 0.8.
But Collins, much like Young, offset much of his offensive contributions with a poor defensive season. Collins ranked No. 452 in DPRM at minus-1.57. A solidly built 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds, Collins needs to be a bigger factor defensively if the Hawks are going to do anything more than spin their wheels while winning as many track meets as they lose.
Kevin Huerter, taken 19th overall by the Hawks last season, had a decent rookie campaign, starting 59 of the 75 games in which he appeared while averaging 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 27.3 minutes per game, shooting 41.9 percent overall and 38.5 percent on 4.7 deep attempts a night.
The key for Huerter will be to gain strength — his 6-foot-7, 190-pound frame made him easy to bully last season — but even with that limitation, he was at least a middle-of-the-road defender with a DPRM of minus-0.58 as a rookie.
Huerter appears to be the future at the 2 spot, with rookie De’Andre Hunter taking over at the 3 as Atlanta appears content to roll with four starters having two seasons of experience or less around center Alex Len.
Because of the timing of the trades with relation to cap space and the NBA moratorium, Hunter was only able to play 21 minutes in one Summer League game, so the results are even more inconclusive than they are for most rookies.
But Hunter has the tools to be the versatile, switchy defender the Hawks need moving forward after a strong two seasons in the defensive-minded system under Tony Bennett at the University of Virginia.
The Hawks have other young players to build from as well. Rookies Cam Reddish and Bruno Fernando may spend some time with the relocated College Park Skyhawks in the G-League, a team that moves after two seasons in Erie, Pa., for much easier access to the parent club with its new venue in suburban Atlanta.
DeAndre’ Bembry is entering his fourth season, as is newly acquired Damian Jones, so there is a lot to Atlanta’s youth movement.