Atlanta Hawks Kevin Huerter: Despite Low Usage, Red Pepper is Killing It

Eye Test

In case you were wondering, this newfound nickname of Red Pepper has been so coined because Huerter (obviously) has red hair but also because he is a talented ballhandler who has produced some spicy highlight-reel plays for the Atlanta Hawks through the first 20 or so games of his career.

Watching Huerter play and learn has been an absolute joy, and it also helps that the Hawks have a +5-point differential when Huerter is on the floor according to Cleaning the Glass, which filters out garbage time. When not filtering on garbage time (of which Red Pepper has helped contribute to productive units), Huerter’s net rating for the Atlanta Hawks creeps up to 8.8, which is best on the team among qualified players.

Though he has not put up eye-popping stat lines for the most part, only scoring more than 10 points on six occasions, his plays always tend to be quite memorable, be they step-back threes or zany passes.

With continued playing time, Red Pepper should be able to carve out an important niche for the Atlanta Hawks going forward.

Statistics courtesy of Cleaning the Glass, NBA, Basketball Reference and Sports Reference, current as of 12/5/18.