Atlanta Hawks’ Tale of Two Rookies

Looking at the Atlanta Hawks’ two 1st round rookies, and why they can’t seem to play well at the same time.

The Atlanta Hawks were fortunate enough to have two top ten draft picks in the 2019 draft, using them to select De’Andre Hunter 4ht,  and Cam Reddish 10th.

Thus far, neither have been spectacular, with Reddish in particular struggling out the gates, but both have had some highlight nights as well. They’ve flashed the potential that made them lottery picks, and for a 10-32 Hawks team far away from competing, that’s enough for now.

However, there is one strange thing: Neither have been good together.

If you go and take a look at the box score’s on of Hunter’s or Reddish’s best games, you’ll notice that the other was not good.

Take last night’s win in San Antonio, Reddish may have played the best game of his career, making five threes en route to 22 points, while Hunter recorded six points in 29 minutes, making 1-5 shots.

In last week’s loss to Brooklyn, Reddish finished with 20 points (albeit on 16 shots), while Hunter scored just once.

When De’Andre Hunter posted 23 against the Cavs in December, Reddish had seven. When he posted a team-high +21 in Atlanta’s win over Orlando, Reddish was the only starter to finish with a +/- in the negatives.

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There are a few outliers, like when they went for 27 and 17 against the Bucks or 28 and 14 against the Heat, but mostly, it’s been one or the other, or neither. Never both.

The easy answer is that there’s just not enough shots to go around. For most of the season, both the Virginia and Duke products have been in the starting five, but have never been near the top of the food chain when it comes to offensive touches.

Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, John Collins and even guys like Alex Len and Jabari Parker have taken more shots in a game than the two rookies multiple times. There could be just enough looks for one to have a big night, but that’s not likely the case.

I’m not inferring that the two can’t play well together, and as a Hawks fan, I certainly hope that’s not the case.

On multiple game recaps this season I’ve noted either Cam’s or Hunter’s number of shot attempts – or lack thereof. Cam has attempted eight shots or less 20 times this season, while Hunter’s number is at 13. Only Trae averages more minutes than Hunter’s 31.1 per game.

Timid is a word I would use to describe both of them during these types of games, and while Reddish seems to be breaking out of this of late, Hunter hasn’t shot double-digit attempts in back-to-back games since mid-December.

Like I said earlier, the Hawks are in no shape to compete this year, and the rest of the season will provide ample playing time for the rooks to work out the kinks.

I just hope that we’ll get a game where the two both look like stars, hopefully sooner rather than later.