Atlanta Hawks: 13 Players Hawks Could Select in 2019 NBA Draft
By Chris Guest
#4 — Brandon Clarke, Junior, Gonzaga
Once again, this might be a rather unusual choice for the #4 player on this Atlanta Hawks big board to some. Clarke, a former San Jose State Spartan, transferred to Gonzaga during the offseason, and after that, the Zags went on to produce one of the best seasons in college basketball history.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs absolutely rolled through its conference schedule – eviscerating opponents by a sky-high 27 points in margin of victory, which stands as the West Coast Conference record.
Why was Gonzaga so effective this year? Sure, the team was loaded with talent and coached expertly by Mark Few, but Brandon Clarke certainly was a major reason why the Bulldogs were so dominant.
An extremely efficient scorer with stunning athleticism, Clarke would be an excellent fit alongside the amazing passing ability of Trae Young and, to a lesser extent, Kevin Huerter. Though the frontcourt fit of Clarke with John Collins would be supremely undersized, this super-fast and supremely bouncy duo would provide similar issues to opposing defenses that a Zion/JC frontcourt would pose: How on Earth can you keep up with the verticality and athleticism of those two?
In most cases, teams would have to go small in order to keep up with the extremely fast pace at which the Atlanta Hawks like to play as well as the huge volume of threes they take in the team’s modern offensive system.
On defense, Clarke would be able to paper over the myriad issues this team has on defense and with another strong wing defender in the fold added (perhaps via the Mavericks pick), the Hawks would be in great shape on the less glamorous end going forward.
Lastly, though Clarke is one of the oldest picks slated to go in the lottery, his amazing athletic gifts and defensive IQ should sway GM Travis Schlenk.