Led by Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks have a young, promising Big Three to build around moving forward
When the Atlanta Hawks selected Kevin Heurter with the 18th overall pick in the draft last year, many of their fans were asking who that was.
The 18-year-old out of Maryland had just completed a stellar sophomore season, averaging 14.8 points and connecting with just under 42 percent of his 3’s. He was going to be a good spot-up shooter but wasn’t seen as starting material quite yet, especially for Atlanta.
When the Hawks selected Luka Doncic and then traded him to the Mavericks for Trae Young (too soon, Atlanta?), their fans weren’t sure how to react. One thing was for sure though: they had gotten the best 3-point shooter in the draft.
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As Joseph Barrett pointed out three months ago, he’s a gem and is continuing to show signs of improvement in his game.
Both rookies, they have shown glimpses of greatness through the first five months of the NBA season.
Trae Young’s breakout game came against the Cleveland Cavaliers and fellow rookie Collin Sexton back in early October, when he scored an efficient 35 points and dished 11 dimes, along with a current season-high six 3-pointers made. I feel the need to stress that he only had one turnover in this game – which was something that he has struggled with this season.
Kevin Huerter‘s breakout game happened Friday night, and Twitter was here for every second of it. His season-highs of 29 points, five 3’s were achieved in 39 minutes, also a season high for the former Terrapin. The best one? His shot with 56 seconds left to tie the game.
Both Young and Heurter have been exceptional to watch, but the MVP of this young team is John Collins, who deserves an All-Star nod this year.
In just his second season, John Collins is putting up some eye-popping numbers. My favorite? Entering Friday night’s matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers, he’s scored 471 points in 23 games. In 74 games last year, he scored 777. Give this guy votes for Most Improved Player Award.
The aforementioned three of Young, Collins, and Heurter are all 21 or younger, and Taurean Prince, a solid two-way player, has only improved dating back to his rookie season last year. They’ve all had impactful games, clutch plays, and are getting better every day with the coaching staff.
Let’s talk about one more thing for a minute. The Hawks’ two first-round picks are BOTH projected to be in the top-10, somewhere between 5 and 10 right now. Notable names in that slot include UNC’s Nassir Little, USC’s Kevin Porter, Jr., and Duke’s Cam Reddish, all prospects that scouts are dying to get.
Young, Heurter, Prince, and Collins paired with at least one of those guys is a very scary lineup in a few years, and they could easily be one of the NBA’s most improved team’s over the next few seasons.
Sidenotes: Vince is a first ballot Hall of Famer and Kent Bazemore‘s days with the team are numbered.