2019 NBA Draft: 5 Reasons Atlanta Hawks Should Trade Up For Jarrett Culver
By Chris Guest
A detailed examination of the Atlanta Hawks trading up and drafting Jarrett Culver out of Texas Tech in the 2019 NBA Draft.
With less than a week to go until the 2019 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks have been featured in a plethora of rumors of late regarding various prospects. One extremely notable name the team has been linked to is Jarrett Culver out of Texas Tech.
The 20-year-old sophomore wing had a tremendous second year, blossoming into a star after playing alongside fellow first round pick Zhaire Smith in his rookie season. Culver was pretty much the go-to option on offense for Texas Tech, though Matt Mooney played quite well down the end of the season (particularly in the latter stages of the NCAA Tournament) as the team’s point guard.
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Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, Culver helped lead the Red Raiders all the way to the title game, where it took an overtime period for Virginia to flip the script and win the university’s first men’s basketball championship ever.
The loss will likely sting, but Culver is set for bigger and better things in his pro career. As a consensus top 10 pick, Culver is widely regarded as one of the best prospects in this draft class (in the non-Zion Williamson tier, at least).
Recent news has pegged the Atlanta Hawks as a potential suitor for Culver, though the team won’t be able to rely on him falling to #8 in the 2019 NBA Draft. As such, he is one of the few players that it would make sense for the Hawks to trade up for (though this writer’s preference would be to still make all six selections and worry about it later).
Read on to explore reasons why trading up and drafting Culver makes sense.