Atlantabound
After being picked No. 5 in the NBA Draft by Dallas, OU’s Trae Young was traded to Atlanta.
Why Atlanta hopes Young is its Curry
The Atlanta Hawks desperately wanted Trae Young.
More accurately, Travis Schlenk did.
Behind the scenes, the Hawks general manager made it clear in recent weeks that Young was his guy. Schlenk had the third pick in the NBA Draft, and he floated the idea that he could work a deal to leverage that lofty spot to get Young and other assets.
Anything to make sure Young became a Hawk.
Thursday night, he did.
Schlenk and the Hawks got Young courtesy of a draft-night deal with the Mavericks. Dallas drafted Young with the fifth pick, then shipped him to Atlanta for Luka Doncic and a protected first-round draft pick next year.
Yes, the Hawks had their claws in Doncic, a guy who some believed up until recently would be taken No. 1, but they opted instead for Young. Why?
Schlenk thinks he’s the next Steph Curry.
Oh, the GM hasn’t said as much. It’d be a lot of pressure to put on Young to compare him to one of the greatest players on the planet, a sure-fire,
first-ballot hall of famer. But read what Schlenk told media gathered in Atlanta on Thursday night, and see if you can figure out whether he’s talking about Curry or Young.
“The court vision and the passing is what really stands out about him,” Schlenk said. “Obviously, his ability to shoot the ball — in today’s NBA, the 3-point shot is very important. What really separates him with his shooting is his ability to shoot it off the dribble. You don’t see that in a lot of guys, and he possesses that.”
He was talking about Young, but the same things could be said about Curry.
And Schlenk should know — before being hired a year ago by the Hawks, he had been with the Warriors for 13 years. He worked his way up from video scout to assistant general manager, and all along the way, he watched as Golden State grew into a monster.
Lots of pieces had to fall into place for the Warriors to become what they are today, but it started with Curry.
Schlenk is hoping it starts in Atlanta with Young.
The Hawks have to hope so, too. The Hawks’ franchise hasn’t used super-high picks to go after top-notch point guards. They’ve picked several point guards in the first round in recent years — Dennis Schroder and Shane Larkin in 2013, Jeff Teague in 2009, Acie Law in 2007 — but all were outside the top 10.
The last three top-five picks by the Hawks were bigs.
Al Horford, No. 3 in 2007.
Shelden Williams, No. 5 in 2006.
Marvin Williams, No. 2 in 2005.
Hard to argue with the Horford pick, and Shelden Williams was one of the best defensive bigs that the college game had ever seen. But that Marvin Williams pick? In selecting him, Atlanta passed on Deron Williams and Chris Paul.
The Hawks have been wandering in the point guard wilderness ever since.
Will Young lead them to the promised land? Schlenk sure thinks so. In many ways, he’s staked his future on Young. Even though Schlenk was around for the draft last year, he had hardly been with the Hawks for a month. He hadn’t had a chance to evaluate the situation. Heck, he probably hadn’t had a chance to meet every player face to face at that point.
This draft was Schlenk’s first big opportunity to start rebuilding this franchise the way he thinks is best — and he started with Young.
The Oklahoma kid is his cornerstone.
If Schlenk is right about Young, the Hawks might turn a corner quickly. They added Maryland sharpshooter Kevin Huerter later in the first round, and some have compared him to, ahem, Klay Thompson. Outside shooting is clearly going to be a big part of Atlanta’s new identity, and in the East, that could win ballgames.
But if Schlenk is wrong about Young, the GM will probably be out of a job before Young finishes his rookie contract.
Pretty clearly, Schlenk believes he is right. He got his franchise pillar. He got his Steph.
He got his guy.