Atlanta Hawks 2018-19 Season In Review: Kevin Huerter

Weaknesses

Despite the success, there was some pitfalls of Kevin Huerter’s rookie season.

First, free throws. The Hawks were in the bottom tier of teams in terms of free throw percentage on the season, shooting a 75% that didn’t do them any favors.

You would think that Huerter, an established shooter, especially when he can set his feet, would be able to help this, but no.

Actually, he technically hurt the teams’ average, shooting 73%. Strangely, he just didn’t go to the line much. Even though he spends a lot of time behind the arc, you would think someone who averaged 27.3 minutes a game with just a handful of games missed would be able to get to the stripe more than 56 times.

Yes, 56 times. He made 41 of them. Getting to line is one thing, maybe garnering contact just isn’t in his wheelhouse, but if he’s shooting that few, he should be able to make a few more.

He also struggled with turnovers on occasion, as the whole team did.

Huerter was usually fairly consistent, but he did hit something of a rookie wall and suffered through a few mini-slumps as the season went on. During one particularly rough 7-game stretch in March, he shot a mere 24% from three.

Really though, there isn’t one glaring hole to his game. You can get nit-picky with his inconsistent rebounding or at times or underwhelming mid-range shooting, but that all comes with the territory of being a rookie on a losing team.