An in-depth exploration of the season in review for beloved Atlanta Hawks rookie guard Kevin Huerter.
For the second summer in a row, the Atlanta Hawks picked up a stud with the 19th overall pick in the draft.
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In 2017, it was high-flying forward John Collins who shattered expectations, and in 2018 it was Kevin Huerter, who did similar.
The rookie had a up-and-down season, but luckily the downs weren’t too low, and the highs… got pretty high.
Around the middle of the season, Kev was on a tear that had everyone in Atlanta excited for the guard. From December 12th through January 19th, Huerter was one of the best rookies in the league, averaging 13.4 points, 3.2 assist and 1 steal per game, while shooting just a tick under 40% from three.
At that point he seemed to be a shoe-in for the All-rookie team, but he did hit the rookie wall that many others do. We’ll dive deeper into his All-rookie team chances at this point in a later slide, but they did take a hit in the final few months.
In all, Huerter appeared in 75 games, starting 59, putting up good averages along the way. He finished 11th among rookies in scoring with 9.7 points a game on 41/39/73. He added 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists, both respectable for his role as a catch-and-shoot 2 guard.
He had great stretches through the season, as mentioned, and remained a pretty consistent scoring option for the Hawks
And although the fan base can’t seem to decide on a official nickname for the shooter (Red Mamba, Red Pepper, Red Velvet), but can agree that he played well and has great potential.
Let’s dive into a full review of the rookie, starting with his expectations coming into the season.