Gallery: 5/6
No. 7 Atlanta Hawks: SG Quentin Grimes, Kansas
No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves: PF De'Andre Hunter, Virginia
The Hawks would love to land another top-five pick and made it clear this offseason that they hope to be major players in the 2019 draft. Some of that depends on the Cavs and Mavericks' seasons as there are protections on the picks the Hawks are owed.
I was critical of the Hawks trading away Luka Doncic, but Trae Young has flashed his potential early this season. As for draft philosophy, the Hawks just need more talent, and Grimes would be a bigger guard that pairs nicely with Young.
Jayhawks head coach Bill Self sees Grimes potential but admits his shooting ability has to improve.
"I would say he's probably as complete a guard as we've ever had," Self explained to 247 Sports. "You know, he can shoot, he can pass, he can dribble, he can score at all three levels. He is a really good player right now, but what I think impressed me as much as anything is that he's bright, and as good as he is, he's competitive enough that I think he could really be special...He's still streaky, he doesn't shoot it great all the time, there's a lot of things I could tell him. I've told him this, that as good as he's been, I mean he was the most valuable player in the event, and he'd be the first to tell you if it had gone one more day, maybe it's somebody else that could've won. We were really balanced, really balanced. But for the most valuable player, to me, still hasn't scratched what he can potentially do is [really] exciting."
De'Andre Hunter's Stock Is High Despite Being a Redshirt Sophomore
De'Andre Hunter is one of the rare upperclassmen that has a chance to be a top 10 pick. Hunter's draft stock was on the rise prior to suffering a season-ending injury last season. After Hunter went down, the unthinkable happened as Virginia was knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the first round.
Unfortunately, upperclassmen are often dinged in the draft process because of their age, but I think Hunter has a chance to climb up draft boards with a strong season at Virginia. Virginia associate head coach Jason Williford spoke to The Ringer about what the team saw in Hunter coming out of high school.
“I was the lead recruiter on [Hunter],” Williford told The Ringer. “The first time that Tony [Bennett] saw him was the summer before his senior season [of high school]. He texts me: ‘We have our guy. He’s a big wing. He’s a pro.’ The game [Bennett] saw in Las Vegas, he was going up against Miles Bridges [the no. 12 overall pick in this year’s draft]. And the game after that it was against Josh Jackson [the 2017 no. 4 overall pick]. He had a really good game against both of them.”
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