Atlanta Hawks: 3 reasons why Kevin Huerter is key to their title run

For anyone who is not a fan of the Atlanta Hawks or an immediate relative of its budding role star, Kevin “K’Von/Red Mamba/Red Velvet” Huerter, this should be more terrifying than any installment in The Conjuring series.

Contrary to what your eyes may be deceiving you to believe, no, that is not a video of the Big Bang. It is something altogether more satisfying, and perhaps more consequential – depending on your priorities. What you just witnessed was the real-time ascendance of Kevin Huerter, the defender. He stays in front of a desperate-to-create Jrue Holiday, steering him away from the basket and any shot he wishes to get off and, eventually, forcing him to pass to a wide-open Pat Connaughton on the wing.

That’s Trae Young’s man, who Huerter races toward to contest Connaughton’s 3-point attempt. Connaughton airballs and the shot clock expires. State Farm Arena gets so loud that the refs don’t even recognize the violation that occurred before their eyes – play continues, and the Hawks dribble back on offense.

With Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young sidelined for an unknown period, Kevin Huerter has emerged as a key for their run through the NBA playoffs.

He’s not supposed to be able to do that. That’s like Peter Parker being able to turn into both Spider-Man and the Hulk. It’s like if Mariano Rivera could both pitch a perfect top of the ninth and hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of it.

What I mean is: Kevin Huerter was never billed as a guard capable of flying around the court from one man to another at a moment’s notice, turning one away from finishing an otherwise simple floater and reducing the other’s pedestrian 3-point attempt into an airball. Scouting reports from when he was entering the league in 2018 noted his lean frame as a defensive concern, one that might cause him to get caught behind and/or bounced off screens because he lacks explosiveness and strength.

That’s still a lingering concern – he was listed at 194 lbs. in 2018, and is now listed at 190 – but his defensive acumen? It’s hardly an issue. It has been and will continue to be pivotal in this series.