15 Non-Lottery Draft Pick Options for Atlanta Hawks
By Chris Guest
Jalen Brunson
Jalen Brunson, whose Villanova Wildcats just won their second NCAA title in three years, swept most of the college postseason awards, including AP Player of the Year, the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award and many more.
Despite putting up tremendous stats on a terrific, title-winning team, he is clearly a lesser prospect than his running mate Mikal Bridges, who is a fringe lottery prospect that will make any team that drafts him better. Is the same true of Brunson?
While his effort, feel for the game and basketball IQ cannot be faulted, and there’s no denying he put up massive numbers in college, Brunson is clearly undersized at 6’3” and many of those same passes and layups he got in college will not come easy in the NBA.
Still though, a proven winner with a tremendous NCAA pedigree will always be worth a shot, and the Hawks could be in the market for both a backup and starting point guard – if big changes come this offseason.
Brunson would bring a hard-nosed, winning attitude to a Hawks squad that showed some signs of gelling around Taurean Prince and John Collins in the later stages of the season. Another young, steady hand (who isn’t as ball-dominant as Dennis Schröder) at point guard could help bring this team even closer together.