Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young, Kevin Huerter Named to All-Rookie Teams

A quick peek at the news that Trae Young and Kevin Huerter of the Atlanta Hawks were named to All-Rookie teams after successful first seasons.

Two of the brightest young stars on the Atlanta Hawks were awarded with All-Rookie Team honors on Tuesday by the NBA. Trae Young, who deserves to be named Co-Rookie of the Year alongside Luka Doncic at the NBA awards, was bestowed with a unanimous selection to the All-Rookie First Team. He and Doncic were the only rookies unanimously selected to the first team.

Of course, we have previously waxed poetic about Young’s impact on the Atlanta Hawks, and there’s no question he was a deserving unanimous selection to the First Team.

Joining Ice Trae and Halleluka were Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns, who just barely missed a unanimous selection and Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies and Marvin Bagley of the Sacramento Kings. Both players provided excellent minutes for their respective teams and both their statistical and “eye test” profiles showcased players that were definitely worthy of an All-Rookie First Team slot.

The All-Rookie Second Team featured Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet of the LA Clippers with Collin Sexton of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Mitchell Robinson of the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks’ own beloved Red Pepper (aka Kevin Huerter).

Though a few other rookies had strong cases for inclusion on the second team (Mikal Bridges, Bruce Brown, Allonzo Trier, Rodions Kurucs and Jalen Brunson spring to mind), Huerter was clearly a deserving choice – as he was one of the best players on the Atlanta Hawks in the 2018-19 season.

Huerter was a Top 30 shooting guard in ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus metric and he also boasted the team’s second-highest point differential per Cleaning the Glass at +6.6 behind only John Collins’s robust +9.8.

Furthermore, Huerter graded out strongly in BBall Index’s Player Impact Plus/Minus metric, accruing the Hawks’ third-highest Offensive PIPM (behind only Collins and Trae) and fifth-highest overall PIPM.

With two of the Hawks’ three first round picks being named to All-Rookie teams, you can be certain that General Manager Travis Schlenk knows a thing or two about talent evaluation come draft time – which makes the 2019 NBA Draft so enticing for the team.

For now, let’s just appreciate the brilliant seasons of Young and Huerter and look forward to many years to come for both players in a Hawks uniform.