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2018 NBA Draft: Atlanta Hawks Guard Options at 30th Overall

By Dallin Duffy

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 9: UCLA guard Aaron Holiday (3) raises his arms in triumph during the semifinal game of the mens Pac-12 Tournament between the UCLA Bruins and the Arizona Wildcats on March 9, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 9: UCLA guard Aaron Holiday (3) raises his arms in triumph during the semifinal game of the mens Pac-12 Tournament between the UCLA Bruins and the Arizona Wildcats on March 9, 2018, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 26: De’Anthony Melton (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 26: De’Anthony Melton (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

De’Anthony Melton

We continue our run on defensive guards with the USC product: De’Anthony Melton. Melton is not as NBA-ready as either of the previously mentioned.

In his defense, it’s hard to be ready if you don’t even play college ball. After playing (well) in the ‘16-17 season for Southern Cal, Melton sat out this past season after being apart of the bribery scandal that took the NCAA by storm in 2017.

This lead him to be indefinitely suspended by the school, which persuaded Melton to leave school in February and fully commit to the NBA.

In his freshman season for the Trojans, De’Anthony showed himself to do almost everything on the court well. He was unselfish passing the ball, dishing out an impressive 3.5 assists in 27 minutes on average. Playmaking is seen as a secondary option for his two guard position, but he’s definitely able to run the offense in a pinch.

He’s also a tremendous rebounder for a 6-3 guard. He pulled down 4.7 (!) rebounds in those 27 minutes a game. He’s ultra-aggressive down low and has a keen sense of where to be to grab the ball near the rim.

He has a great wingspan allowing him to infiltrate passing lanes and even reject some shots. He combined for nearly 2 steals a game with a block a game to become one of the nation’s best defensive guards.

Even with the suspension and a lost sophomore year, Melton could be an intriguing pick for the lottery section of the draft, given how he excels at the above aspects. One major thing is keeping him in the late first to early second in most mocks: scoring.

While athletic and physical enough to finish inside, his midrange and outside shots need some work. Luckily, he had a whole year to work on it. Before his sophomore season was revoked he told Draft Express that: “My jump shot has gotten a lot more fluid, it feels a lot better.”

This should be encouraging to teams who were scared off by his shooting in college, in which he shot 28% from three and had an interesting form to say the least. Luckily, shooting is one of the easier things for a player to develop throughout their careers.

Melton is much more of a prospect than most others names on the Hawks’ radar, and honestly could have one of the higher ceilings of any player outside the lottery.