2019 NBA Draft: 5 Reasons Atlanta Hawks Should Trade Up For Jarrett Culver

Offense

Due to his offensive skills, taking Culver in the Top 5 of the 2019 NBA Draft is certainly a tantalizing option. During his sophomore season, Culver was the #1 option on Texas Tech, and despite getting shut down by De’Andre Hunter in the title game, he still flashed a ton of potential as a secondary creator and playmaker off the dribble.

Per Bart Torvik, Culver was one of only 28 players that attempted over 220 shots at the rim, and he shot a robust 66.5 percent on those shots. Even more impressively, only 24.5 percent of those shots were assisted – meaning Culver was relying on his strength, athleticism, touch and dribble moves to get good looks at the rim that he knocked down at an excellent clip.

Perhaps even more notably, Culver was one of only 7 of those players that also attempted over 150 three-pointers, and he joined Ja Morant and D’Marcus Simonds of Georgia State (in a lesser capacity) as the only draft prospects who were assisted on less than 60 percent of those three-point attempts per Bart Torvik – meaning, again, that much of Culver’s work was being done off the dribble.

Culver’s most notable skill when he’s not scoring is his terrific passing ability. Culver makes terrific passing choices while on the move, and due to his gravity driving to the rim, Culver diced up defenses with his reads to the tune of a 26.1 percent assist rate, which was 3rd in the Big 12 per Sports Reference.