2019 NBA Draft: 7 Best Rim Finishers for Atlanta Hawks to Draft
By Chris Guest
An in-depth exploration of seven of the best rim finishers in the 2019 NBA Draft that the Atlanta Hawks could take with their five picks across the first and second round.
The Atlanta Hawks will look to continue their trend of drafting high-impact players in recent years in June’s 2019 NBA Draft. With five picks in the team’s coffers (two lottery selections and three second rounders), it seems likely that some trade machinations might take place.
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Though the 2019 NBA Draft is widely believed to be fairly shallow, Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk went on record saying that he and his staff believed this draft to be fairly deep. Perhaps he’s speaking about the tremendous depth in the upper echelon of last year’s draft compared to the more evenly spread out talent after the #1 overall pick in 2019 (looking at you, Zion Williamson).
Surely, Schlenk and the Hawks will be looking to improve the team’s defense both in the backcourt and in the interior, but there is another glaring area of weakness that Atlanta could aim to better in June: Finishing at the rim.
Despite ranking 3rd in the NBA per Cleaning the Glass in at-rim shooting frequency at 39.6 percent, the team ranked 24th in the NBA with a 60.7 percent clip at finishing around the rim. The Atlanta Hawks were the only team in the top 5 in frequency to shoot outside the top 10 in terms of percentage.
Let’s take a look at 7 of the best at-rim finishers the Atlanta Hawks could select in the 2019 NBA Draft.