Atlanta Hawks: Was De’Andre Hunter the right pick at fourth overall?

De’Andre Hunter had a solid rookie season for the Atlanta Hawks, and while it may not be over, let’s look at whether or not he justified the fourth pick.

The Atlanta Hawks appear to be on the upswing due to their mass of young talent. Part of their young core includes former fourth overall pick, De’Andre Hunter. While De’Andre Hunter has certainly been a solid player for the Hawks thus far, he hasn’t entirely lived up to the expectations that come with being a fourth overall selection.

There appears to be a lot of great players that have come out of the 2019 NBA draft, most notably, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. Williamson and Morant appear to be in a tier of their own but there are a lot of other really solid players from this draft including Tyler Herro, PJ Washington, Coby White and the Hawks very own De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish.

Thus far, Cam Reddish seems like he has the most potential out of any of those second-tier guys and this is incredibly promising for the Atlanta Hawks. The combination of De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish should be a solid pairing for years to come.

However, that begs the question, should Reddish have been selected over Hunter? And will Hunter ever live up to the expectations of a fourth overall pick?

As I’ve mentioned, De’Andre Hunter looked good for the Hawks this season. He’s a really good three-point shooter but lacks offensive creation. He’s also a really good defender and he’ll likely continue to improve on that end.

In his rookie season, Hunter averaged 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 41.0 percent from the field, 35.5 percent from behind the three-point line and 76.4 percent from the free-throw line. This is evidence of his really solid shooting, especially from three. These are also really solid all-around numbers for a rookie.

However, despite all that Hunter brings to the table, his skillset may be destined to be a high-end role player in the league. He fits the mould of a three and D wing like PJ Tucker but at times, shows the potential of being better, similar to Luol Deng or other All-Star three and D wings.

It’s really tough to know if Hunter will ever develop into that All-Star calibre player or if he will spend his career as a high-end role player. If he figures it out and becomes that All-Star player he will absolutely justify his fourth overall selection, but if he is just a role player, it likely will end up being a bit of a reach for him at four.

No matter how Hunter’s career turns out, he’s going to have a long one. He has all the tools to stick around in this league for more than a decade, assuming he doesn’t have any serious injuries.

Luckily for Hunter, none of the rookies in his tier have set themselves apart from him drastically so as of now, he looks like a solid pick at number four. However, he’ll need to continue to improve in order to justify his selection in the future.

For Hawks fans, let’s hope Hunter is able to develop into a multi-time All-Star and can become the perfect complement to Trae Young, Cam Reddish and John Collins. If he can, the Hawks will be incredibly exciting for years to come.