Hawks zeroing in on Jarrett Culver in 2019 Draft?

[Jamaaliver]

Culver, Reddish top list of shooting guards in NBA draft

Jarrett Culver made himself a top-flight NBA prospect by pushing Texas Tech to within a win of its first national championship.

Culver is regarded by many as the top shooting guard in Thursday’s draft, part of a rapid rise from solid freshman contributor to Associated Press All-American. He could be picked in the top five

The sophomore can make a big impact at both ends on the court.

STRENGTHS: Culver offers size (a nearly 6-foot-7 measurement with shoes at the scouting combine) and the versatility to defend multiple positions for one of the nation’s toughest defensive units. After averaging 11.2 points as a freshman, Culver developed into the no-doubt first option and Big 12 player of the year while leading Texas Tech in scoring (18.5), rebounding (6.4) and assists (3.7).

CONCERNS: Culver must improve his outside shooting after making 49 of 161 (.304) 3-pointers in his first run in a leading role. That was down nearly 8 percentage points from his freshman year and included a 4-for-26 showing (.154) in the last five games of the team’s run to the NCAA title game. He must also improve at the line after shooting 68.7% there over two college seasons.

Dallas Star Telegram

[King Ken]

Don't like the idea of it.
He is a SG.
He is a worse fit than Kevin.
He is too weak to spot at SF.
I rather keep 10 and 17. Rather Sekou or Little and a center.
I really don't think he is that good.

Supes right now, having seen Givony's tweet....

Not at all, did you see the other one. R.J. could be at #4.

[_s_t_u_r_t_]

Don't like the idea of it.
He is a SG.
He is a worse fit than Kevin.
He is too weak to spot at SF.
I rather keep 10 and 17. Rather Sekou or Little and a center.
I really don't think he is that good.

Supes right now, having seen Givony's tweet....

Not at all, did you see the other one. R.J. could be at #4.

Saw it.

Just can't even imagine that one happening, tho.

Can you?

[King Ken]

Supes right now, having seen Givony's tweet....

Not at all, did you see the other one. R.J. could be at #4.

Saw it.

Just can't even imagine that one happening, tho.

Can you?

My guy confirmed both, the deal, the contingency and the likeliness of this happening. It's not.

[_s_t_u_r_t_]

Not at all, did you see the other one. R.J. could be at #4.

Saw it.

Just can't even imagine that one happening, tho.

Can you?

My guy confirmed both, the deal, the contingency and the likeliness of this happening. It's not.

"Both"... you mean both the NOP and CLE deals?... "your guy" is saying neither is happening, then?

[King Ken]

Saw it.

Just can't even imagine that one happening, tho.

Can you?

My guy confirmed both, the deal, the contingency and the likeliness of this happening. It's not.

"Both"... you mean both the NOP and CLE deals?... "your guy" is saying neither is happening, then?

R.J. to 4? Unlikely
Atl 8/10 is based on R.J. being there, not happening.

[BladeKor]

Trade wont happen, I hope it doesn't happen.

[Hawkamanic81]

Culver looks like a Doug Christie or Jim Jackson kind of player.

Are these fair comparisons?

[_s_t_u_r_t_]

Definitely think you're in the ballpark on that, maniac.

[_s_t_u_r_t_]

Read on Twitter

I love the kid.

I just don't love him for us.

At least, not yet.

If we get him, I'll give him some benefit of a doubt because I give Schlenk some benefit of a doubt. But I remain a skeptic, and very reluctant to trade up for him.

[Hawkamanic81]

Definitely think you're in the ballpark on that, maniac.

He just looks like one of those guards that can produce accross the board but is best as a 3rd option where he can play his game without the burden of being "The Man".

Those two also had inconsistent outside shots.

[_s_t_u_r_t_]

It's this simple to me... (broken record alert... )

If you are ~100% persuaded that Trae Young is going to emerge as a legit candidate for league MVP in multiple years, then go get yourself the pure BPAs in this draft... you only need to add high caliber players around him... so, Culver is a legitimate option, as-is Hunter.

If you are less persuaded than that, then... assuming you're genuinely all-in on finally seeing an NBA title coming to ATL and not just the newest playoff hamster wheel act in a Hawks history that has too many of those... then that on its own logically prescribes a vote for only the players whose ceilings scouts project to be potentially in that stratosphere... regardless of their floors.

Reddish... Bol... Doumbouya... or, alternatively, focus all energies on picking up likely high FRPs in the 2020 draft.

[Jamaaliver]

A nice write-up on Culver.

Read on Twitter

Jarrett Culver is the second member of Chris Beard’s first real recruiting class at Texas Tech to go from totally under-the-radar to a guaranteed first round pick. He didn’t just become a better scorer and a talented wing prospect, he became their point guard.

And that is where the intrigue lies for Culver when it comes to his potential at the next level.

He has the size you want out of an off-guard and, at 6-foot-7 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, is big enough to be able to guard small forwards in the NBA, but he doesn’t have the game of a typical 3-and-D player. As a sophomore, he averaged a team-high 3.7 assists for Texas Tech, but he wasn’t exactly what you would call a point guard. In fact, he was often essentially playing the four, with a trio of smaller guards on the floor around him. What Beard did was build an offense that was heavy with motion principles early in a possession, but as the shot clock wound down, the ball would end up in Culver’s hands, where he would be put into an isolation or a ball-screen action and allowed to create.

That is what he does best.

Shot creation.

Spoiler:

Culver is excellent in triple-threat situations. His ability to shoot off the dribble consistently improved throughout his college career, and he’s generally at his best when he is allowed to get into a rhythm jumper off the bounce. He needs to quicken up his release in the NBA, but he has some wiggle room given the way that he gets his shot off. He’s not the most explosive athlete, but he can dunk on defenders when he gets a lane to the basket and his long strides and improving frame allowed him to be able to get to where he wanted to get to in the lane despite the fact that his first step is not all that quick.

But where Culver improved the most during the offseason was with his ability to operate ball-screens. He obsessively studied tape during the summer to learn the proper reads and proper passes to make when running a ball-screen, and the improvement showed. He forced teams to have to stop going under the screen against him because of his ability to step-back and make off-the-dribble threes. He can throw one-handed, live-dribble passes to shooters in either corner. He turned Tariq Owens into a serious threat on the offensive end of the floor with his ability to hit him on lobs while also knowing how to create the space and passing lane for a dump-off.

He’s grown into being a high-level, well-rounded offensive weapon, and there is quite a bit of value in a player that can be a secondary shot-creator without having to play as a point or off-guard.

Now, there are some limitations as well.

He’s better as an off-the-dribble shooter, which actually is not exactly ideal for a player that is going to be spending quite a few possessions playing off the ball. He’s added some muscle since last season — and a growth spurt in the last year makes it seem possible that his body is not done developing — but he is still pretty slender and is not great at dealing with physicality on either end of the floor.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[_s_t_u_r_t_]

Interesting.

Looking back to last year, Schlenk worked out all 3 of his 1st rounders.

John Collins evidently did not work out for us, as best I can find, but of course few thought he'd ever slip down to #19.