A look at a few players that are not expected to be drafted in the lottery in the 2019 NBA Draft, but who the Atlanta Hawks could upend draft boards with if they took them at #10 overall.
The Atlanta Hawks would have two nearly consecutive picks in the 2019 NBA Draft at #8 and #10, with only the Washington Wizards’ pick at #9 interrupting the flow of the board for the team.
While, of course, the ultimate prize would’ve been Zion Williamson with the #1 overall pick, the basketball (and ping-pong ball) gods were unkind to the Hawks earlier this month, and the team dropped three spots with their own pick in the draft. Hey, at least we still got the Mavs pick!
We’ve previously explored a few different mock drafts in which the Hawks stick to conventional wisdom and nab players such as De’Andre Hunter, Jarrett Culver, Jaxson Hayes and Brandon Clarke, but this 2019 NBA Draft is extremely interesting because there are a multitude of opinions surrounding the various players in this draft.
Conventional wisdom is that this draft is ridiculously shallow, but according to Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk, the 2019 class is actually fairly deep:
Travis Schlenk yesterday on 92.9 FM:
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) May 22, 2019
"I think that this is a deep draft. Last year's draft I thought was top heavy. There were five or six guys that we really liked. This year maybe you don't have the clear delineation of five or six guys (cont.)"
If that’s what Schlenk thinks, then perhaps the Atlanta Hawks will shock the world by taking a player that is not regarded as a lottery pick with the #10th overall pick in the draft.
Let’s take a look at a few players that fit that description, starting with…
Grant Williams
Grant Williams out of the University of Tennessee was one of this writer’s favorite college players during the 2018-19 NCAA Men’s Basketball season. Williams, who is built like a steel fortress, won back-to-back SEC Player of the Year awards – though he had stiff competition this season from various players.
At this point Williams is regarded as a mid-to-late first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, though we have previously mocked him as high as #13 overall to the Miami Heat as a complement to the team’s more athletic and explosive future big man (and fellow SEC alumnus) Bam Adebayo.
However, no drafts have Williams going as high as #10 the Atlanta Hawks, which is why Schlenk should back up the depth of this draft by taking a swing on Williams in the lottery.
Despite being in his junior year, Williams will only be 20 years old on draft day and he will not turn 21 until November per Tankathon. Williams, though slightly undersized for a big man at 6-foot-7, is so immensely strong that his relative lack of length and height does not necessarily matter. Just look at the Playoffs where Draymond Green and P.J. Tucker are manning the five for long swaths of time.
On defense, Williams uses his tremendous strength to stymie most offensive archetypes though he lacks elite quickness to stay with the fastest of guards. Despite that, his preternatural feel and anticipation allow him to paper over those concerns.
On offense, Williams is a brilliant passer from the interior as he seemingly has a sixth sense for knowing when the double team is coming, and he is able to thread passes around and over defenders with relative ease. Beyond that, Williams is a gifted foul drawer with a 63.7 percent free throw rate per KenPom. Combine that with an excellent 81.9 percent free throw percentage and a 64.7 true shooting percentage, per Sports Reference, and you have the makings of an extremely efficient and productive modern big man.
Again, size is a problem for Williams, but with the NBA getting smaller and smaller (even with the hulking 7-foot-7 Tacko Fall maybe making it to the league this year), the Atlanta Hawks would do well to consider taking a brilliant basketball mind like Williams to pair with John Collins in the frontcourt.
PJ Washington
After a rather dispiriting freshman season, PJ Washington played it safe and returned to Kentucky for his sophomore year. What a masterstroke that turned out to be. Despite getting memorably hammered by the Duke Blue Devils in the first game of the season in the Champions Classic, Washington showed great improvement all season – to the point that he even challenged the aforementioned Grant Williams for SEC Player of the Year at season’s end.
Though he didn’t win the award, Washington certainly had a case. An unstoppable two-way force, Washington finished in the top 15 in the SEC in offensive rating (9th), defensive rating (3rd), usage rate (12th), box plus/minus (4th), effective field goal percentage (5th and player efficiency rating (4th) per Sports Reference.
Washington was an extremely efficient scoring machine for Kentucky, logging field goal percentages above 42 percent from all three levels: Midrange (45%), rim (65.7%) and three-point territory (42.3%) per Bart Torvik.
Most notably in the Atlanta Hawks case in the 2019 NBA Draft, Washington shot 20 of 44 from NBA three-point territory in college (a 45.5% clip) per The Stepien’s shot chart tool. Also, according to Sports Reference, his three-point attempt rate shot up from a lowly 8.1 percent in his freshman season to a more reasonable 21.4 percent. That combined efficiency and volume should breed hope for the Atlanta Hawks if they were to add Washington with the #10 overall pick.
Perhaps most important for the Atlanta Hawks in this case is something far less numerical yet no less tangible – the way in which Washington plays. He has a mean streak and plays with a vicious snarl that opposing teams will rue the day that invoked while playing against Washington.
Does that sound like something the Atlanta Hawks should be looking for in the 2019 NBA Draft? Who knows, but Washington’s innate athleticism and fiery competitiveness sure would be fun alongside the icy demeanor of Trae Young and the gliding athleticism of John Collins going forward.
Romeo Langford
Unlike both Williams and Washington, Romeo Langford out of Indiana did not have a very good 2018-19 college season despite coming in as one of the most vaunted recruits in Indiana high school basketball history (which is saying a lot).
Langford flashed plenty of potential, however, and we have previously explored a few reasons why the Atlanta Hawks should still ponder the selection of the vaunted prospect in the 2019 NBA Draft. For one thing, with Taurean Prince likely not long for the team in the 2019-20 season, the Hawks (like every team) will be looking for wing depth at every opportunity.
With terrific strength, good size and solid length (6-foot-6, 215 pounds, 6-foot-11 wingspan), Langford certainly looks the part of an NBA player right off the bat.
In his lone college season, Langford showcased terrific touch around the basket by shooting 65.9 percent at the rim, which accounted for 34.9 percent of his shots, according to Bart Torvik. Where Langford’s numbers dipped considerably, however, were when he opted for a jump shot which he did 257 times from either two or three-point range – shooting an ugly 29.88 percent per Bart Torvik.
Despite those numbers, as well as a general lack of explosiveness that might become a problem in the NBA, Langford will only turn 20 in October per Tankathon – meaning he has plenty of upside left to explore.
With good tools, great strength and terrific finishing ability, Langford could be a high-upside play for the Atlanta Hawks with the #10 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Matisse Thybulle
Near and dear to this writer’s heart, Matisse Thybulle out of Washington is perhaps the preeminent defensive artist (much like his potential namesake Henri Matisse) in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Though a four-year senior for the Huskies, Thybulle will still not turn 23 until March of 2020, meaning he will still be able to fit in the Atlanta Hawks youth-oriented timeline were they to take a swing on a high-floor prospect like Thybulle at 10th overall.
Usually, the lottery is meant as a chance for teams to explore the best draft prospects that exhibit the highest ceiling, though players like De’Andre Hunter in this year’s class have a proven NBA-ready skill set and high floor that helps out in a “weaker draft.”
For the Atlanta Hawks, Thybulle’s efficient shot selection would slot in perfectly to the modern offensive system that head coach Lloyd Pierce put into place in his first season. According to Bart Torvik, Thybulle attempted roughly 85 percent of his shots at the rim (29.3%) or from three-point territory (55.9%).
At the rim, Thybulle was nearly automatic at 75.9 percent per Bart Torvik – using his terrific bounce and underrated explosiveness to power through contact and finish with ease. For three-pointers… not so much.
In his college career, Thybulle was a 35.8 percent three-point shooter on a 52 percent three-point attempt rate per Sports Reference. However, his numbers dipped in his senior season as he only shot 30.5 percent from deep as a senior. Despite that, his free throw percentage hit a career-high of 85.1 percent on a 24.8 percent free throw rate. Free throw percentage is usually a better indicator of NBA three-point range, so there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for Thybulle’s shooting were he to be drafted by the Atlanta Hawks.
Beyond that, just take a minute to ponder these numbers: Thybulle is the only player in NCAA Men’s Basketball recorded history to produce over 100 rebounds, over 100 steals and over 70 blocks in a single season. Thybulle had an astonishing 111, 126 and 82 in those categories during the 2018-19 campaign.
Though these players might not be a panacea for the Atlanta Hawks, they all have plenty of upside as well as a fairly solid “worst outcome.” If GM Schlenk believes the 2019 NBA Draft to be a deep one, let’s see if he puts his money (well, the team’s money) where his mouth is by taking a gutsy swing on one of these players come draft day.