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Hawks welcome new babies

After probably overhyping how crazy their pick was going to be throughout the week, the draft flew by with not as much fanfare as expected! Which is good, as the hawks FO was expecting to get dunked on for reaching for their guy: Kasparas Jakucionis (Yah-koo-chone-iss) at #8. We'll get to him, but let's get the others out of the way first.

The hawks had 4 other selections in this draft at 28, 48, 51, and 57. With the latter 3 the Hawks were able to snag 3 two-way contracts, which they needed as both of their existing 2-ways were expiring filler who clearly weren't going anywhere; it's always nice to get some fresh blood in those slots instead, anything else they bring is a bonus. With #28, the Hawks took playmaking big Danny Wolf. He's a rather unusual specimen, being almost 7 feet but playing more like a guard than a big. He's a crafty passer with a pretty good handle, but not especially efficient a shooter, and not great on the boards either. While he has smooth mechanics, he will definitely need to get better as a shooter in order to find a spot in the nba given his lack of ability as a traditional big.

Now for Jakucionis: on paper the fit might seem odd, given they already have a lot of guards. To address that first, it's been no secret that from last year, both Coby White and/or Immanuel Quickley have been available. In addition, neither of them are true crafty, pass-first point guard, playing more like shooting or combo guards with passing ability. As such, Jakucionis would provide a new dimension to the offense they haven't really had before. Jakucionis's main knocks are turnovers and his sub-par handle, with some questions about his shooting; the Hawks are worried about none of those things, as the turnovers are often the result of him experimentation. He will be playing with players better than any he's had before, and he has the passing savvy to keep up with them. I expect that will mitigate his turnovers alone, much less his natural improvement. The shooting had a clear indicator of why it fell off last season; he dealt with an arm injury the 2nd half of last season and his numbers tanked, before his injury he was shooting over 40% from 3, and over 80% from the FT line; this indicates he is more likely than not to project as a plus shooter, who simply couldn't push through his injury and also was struck with some poor luck in summer league. The only real concern left is the handle, and while that is coachable he will likely never have a huge bag, combined with his maybe slightly above average athleticism.

However, the pros are well worth the risks in my eyes: He has great size at 6'6" for the position. He has the positive shooting indicators I mentioned. His athleticism despite not being outstanding is still good enough for him to have hung tough on defense in summer league, and he doesn't look like he will be a liability on that end. By far though the best attribute is his passing, and by extension is operation of the pick and roll. The hawks have 2 huge bigs in Alex Sarr and Donovan Clingan to set screens for Jakucionis, and they will then become immense lob threats in the PnR. If one of them develops a shot, that opens up all sorts of possibility for pick-and-pop actions as well, and jakucionis' passing vision will make threading those passes on rolls inside much more consistent.

Overall, perhaps Jakucionis is a bit of a reach at #8, but the Hawks are in a position to take upside, and we felt that jakucionis had the biggest upside of anyone left in the draft. It willl likely be a longer burn, as it is with lots of rookie guards, but the Hawks roster is young enough that we can afford to wait and see how it pans out.

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		Comments (1)
laddas 07/21 09:55 am	QN, Qtr. 5, #1