The Atlanta Hawks capitalized on having multiple first-round picks in the 2019 NBA Draft, trading up to select De'Andre Hunter at the No. 4 spot before selecting Cam Reddish with the No. 10 overall selection.
Hunter had reportedly been a target ever since his pre-draft workout with the Hawks, which ended up being his only workout. Reddish, meanwhile, is the prospect with arguably the most upside, given his smooth shooting stroke and his length that made him a defensive player at Duke.
With Hunter and Reddish joining Trae Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter in Atlanta, the Hawks have a very strong group of young players to build around, and could certainly turn heads in the Eastern Conference next season.
Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce told Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wants his youngsters to have an edge in helping each other to improve:
“I think the beauty of it is competition,” Pierce said. “For the most part, we are all kind of on the same timeline now. What you get is you get healthy competition. You try to find cohesion. Can you play Cam and Trae (Young) together? And Cam and Kevin Huerter? How do you utilize the skill set without limiting a player’s ability?”
“The competition aspect of it — Kevin gets Cam every day. Cam has to guard Kevin every day,” Pierce said. “I can’t ask for a better situation. Some of these guys want to play with the basketball in their hands. Well, they have to do it against DeAndre. I feel good because it’s a healthy young core of guys that will get to compete and push each other. It’s our job as a staff to create a competitive environment.”
Pierce himself will have the opportunity to coach some of the game's fiercest competitors when he joins the USA National Team as an assistant coach for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
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