The Atlanta Hawks (26-30) didn’t get much from Kevin Huerter as they were dropping their second straight contest following the NBA trade deadline and fourth in their last five tries. They are now just one win, and thus just one half-game, ahead of the Washington Wizards who play the Detroit Pistons on Monday while the Hawks will be idle for the final play-in spot.
Huerter finished the game with just seven points before fouling out on a take foul with just 26 seconds left on the clock.
It wasn’t as if he was the most inefficient of the Hawks scorers. That was Danilo Gallinari and De’Andre Hunter among the starters and Lou Williams off the bench who shot a team-worst 20.0 percent from the floor in his first action in four games.
Still, Huerter’s day does provide us with a good time to talk about his recent stats.
It hasn’t been the most efficient stretch for Atlanta Hawks wing Kevin Huerter
Huerter’s seven points came on 42.9 percent shooting from the floor and went 1-for-3 from downtown. Both are off from his season numbers – 11.6 points on 45.9 percent shooting overall and 37.0 percent from deep – but do represent a slight bump from his recent stretch. He’s shot below 40.0 percent from the floor in three of the last five games now.
The Hawks have gone 1-4 in that span as the fourth-year wing has averaged 10.2 points on 38.9 percent shooting and 30.0 percent from deep. His defensive rating in this window is better than only John Collins and Gorgui Dieng.
Collins missed Sunday’s loss and Dieng has played in one of the Hawks last six games.
Of the seven Hawks to play in every game during this rough spot, Huerter still has the second-best offensive rating which might not be saying all that much.
But his defense has been so porous that he has a minus-7.7 net rating. It’s tough because he was just having one of his better stretches this season averaging 13.4 points on 54.7 percent shooting and 48.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc. And he even recently drew praise from Nate McMillan for stepping up defensively against the Phoenix Suns.
Hunter is struggling too, averaging 13.0 points but shooting just 34.9 percent from the floor and knocking down just 5-of-20 triples.
But he is still fighting for the next contract that Huerter already has.
His $65 million extension kicks in next season and seemed like a good investment at the time. And you would likely be hard-pressed to find anyone in the building who would claim regret. But, as the year has gone on, it is fair to wonder if we have seen any growth from a player the Hawks already paid with future finances playing a big part in the construction of the roster.
He is still sporting a career-best 56.6 true shooting percentage this season. But that is down to 47.2 percent over the last five contests.
We often said that the team’s highest-paid players need to play like it earlier in the year. Well, Huerter’s recent play has been disappointing for someone with the fourth-most guaranteed money left on their deal among Hawks players.