NOT QUITE NEXT WARRIORS

First-round rookies can shoot, but don’t call Atlanta Golden State South just yet.

Outside observers saw the players Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk chose in the draft last week and figured he was trying to build a team in the image of the Warriors, the franchise he once served as a top basketball executive.

Point guard Trae Young, acquired by the Hawks in a trade with the No. 3 pick, would be Steph Curry: smallish point guard with seemingly unlimited shooting range. Kevin Huerter, the No. 19 overall pick, is a future Klay Thompson: a versatile, sharpshoot

ing wing. Omari Spellman doesn’t look like Draymond Green now, but before the draft Spellman said his goal is to transform his body and model his game on Green’s.

Yet Schlenk insists he didn’t have the Warriors in mind when drafting Young, Huerter, and Spellman. Well, not exactly.

Clearly Schlenk would be elated if his newest draft picks developed to form the core of a championship team like Curry, Thompson and Green. But there are differences in talent and style among the players — for starters, Schlenk said Young is more comparable to Rockets point guard Chris Paul than Curry. Also, it’s obviously much too early to project that any of the Hawks trio will become All-NBA players, much less all three.

If Schlenk ended up with draft picks that resemble Golden State’s stars, he said it’s because the entire league is trending toward the offensive style that the Warriors have mastered while winning three of the last four NBA championships.

“As I’ve mentioned from Day 1, we are looking for skilled players,” Schlenk said. “When you look at the league today, you need guys out on the floor that can dribble, that can shoot, that can pass. All three of these guys can shoot.”

The three newest Hawks players were accurate 3-point shooters in college while taking a lot of attempts.

Young made 36 percent of his 328 3-point attempts during his one season at Oklahoma. He’d made 90 of 200 3-point attempts (41 percent) before fading down

JOHN BAZEMORE / ASSOCIATED PRESS The Hawks’ first-round draft picks (from left) Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman all were accurate 3-point shooters in college despite taking a lot of attempts. They were drafted by Travis Schlenk, who once worked for Golden State.