2019 NBA Draft: 3 Mid-Major Guards for Atlanta Hawks in 2nd Round

John Konchar Atlanta Hawks 2019 NBA Draft (Photo by Cassy Athena/Getty Images)

John Konchar, Purdue-Fort Wayne

Summit League

The first player is one that should be familiar to devoted SDS readers. We released an in-depth profile of John Konchar of the Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons last week, which profiled his incredible collegiate production as a four-year senior in the Summit League.

For the Atlanta Hawks, Konchar would make for a terrific low-risk, high-floor play in the middle of the second round (where the team selects at #41 and #44 overall).

Konchar showcased a variety of skills on offense and defense in his senior season, when he produced a career-high 25.9 percent usage rate per Sports Reference. That added offensive burden did not hamper Konchar’s efficiency, as he logged career-highs in player efficiency rating (30.3), win shares (6.8) and box plus/minus (+7.6) per Sports Reference.

A sneaky good athlete, Konchar employs that functional athleticism on both sides of the ball. On defense, he can surprise opposing players with his timely help defense for steals or blocks, and he also has an incredible nose for the ball when rebounding — especially for a guard. On offense, Konchar is a canny pick-and-roll operator who used his shooting gravity (career 41.6 shooter from deep in college) to produce career-highs of 5.4 assists per game on a 29.3 percent assist rate in his senior season.

At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Konchar is ready to contribute to a team now, and though he might not have a ton of upside, he should be able to immediately slide into the Atlanta Hawks rotation if he was taken in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft.