Kevin Huerter has a nice blend of skills
Kevin Huerter is Young’s current starting running mate in the backcourt and he has started 49 of the 63 games he’s appeared in this season. Most of his bench appearances came at the beginning of the campaign but the Hawks are just 3-11 in those games overall. They have gone 14-11 since he moved to the starting two-guard role.
Huerter’s splits support a starting role as well with the fourth-year man averaging 12.4 points on 45.8 percent shooting from the floor and 39.7 percent from downtown. He averages 8.6 points on 40.5 percent shooting and just 23.6 percent of his threes.
However, his net rating is 5.1 points better when he plays small forward which has been more often this season.
The 6-foot-7 wing is mired in a two-game skid with just six points in his last two games.
He did snag five boards in Sunday’s loss, though, and led the team in assists in Friday’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. And he’s coming off of one of his best stretches of the season averaging 14.0 points on 44.7 percent shooting and hitting 42.0 percent of his triples. He also averaged 4.1 boards, 2.0 assists, and nearly an assist per game.
They post a plus-4.1 net rating when Huerter is paired with Young in the backcourt. That rating is plus-2.8 when the former shifts to the three.
That poses an interesting question about Huerter’s role ultimately. He is a better defender than Bogdanovic for whatever that is worth. But they work well together as evidenced by their roles in that very efficient lineup.