The Atlanta Hawks have constructed a swift rebuild which puts them ahead of the curve of where they were expected to be. They have certainly shown that The Process that the Philadelphia 76ers undertook was indeed an unnecessary pain on their fanbase.
He started this rebuild with a very savvy pick in the 2017 NBA draft when he took John Collins with the 19th pick. Well, Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report rated Collins as the 18th best player who is under 25-years-old which feels about right given the number of quality players under this age.
The other player that Hughes rated in the top-25 players under 25 was Hawks superstar point guard Trae Young. According to Hughes, Young is the third-best player in this age group, which feels about right. Hughes only rated Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic higher.
The Atlanta Hawks could have two more players on this list except for injury
The Hawks have three players who are under 25 who are going to have really good futures in the league. Onyeka Okongwu is good but it is unlikely that he will crack the top 25 players under the age of 25 in the league. Likewise, Kevin Huerter is a tremendous player but unlikely to break into this list.
Cam Reddish has the potential to be anything but unfortunately for Reddish and the Hawks he is yet to have a full season in the league. He missed part of his first season through COVID-19 and then missed a huge part of last season due to his Achilles.
However, the player who should have been on this list barring injury is De’Andre Hunter. The second-year wing was the Hawks’ second-best player last season prior to his injury. Yes, he was even better than John Collins who B/R rated the 18th best player in the age group.
What this says is that when the Hawks get all their players back on the court they are going to be a good team for a long period of time. This is an exciting time to be a Hawks fan and if they can keep all this young talent together then they have one of the brightest futures in the league.