Sports

Breaking Kevin Huerter’s Trade With Kings


This is the seventh in our series that breaks down the key deals of the 2022 holiday season. Instead of scoring, this series will explore why Teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into a deal between the Hawks and the Kings…

The day after free agency began, the Hawks agreed to send Kevin Huerter to kings in exchange for Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless and Kings 2024 first round selection (top 14 protected). If it chooses not to transmit immediately, it will have the top 12 protected in 2025 and the top 10 protected in 2026. If it hasn’t changed hands by then, the Hawks will receive two second prizes.

View of the Kings:

After the transaction Tyrese Haliburton to Indiana on trade deadline for All-Star twice Domantas SabonisKings signaled that they were building around a few dynamic game makers (the other one De’Aaron Fox), each of them has a glaring flaw in their attack repertoire: a three-point shot. The two leftists have roughly the same career percentages from behind the arc, with Fox at 32.0% and Sabonis at 31.9%.

Modern NBA criminals thrive on proper distance, so surrounding the duo with shooters is paramount. Sacramento is 25 years oldorder in the league with three points generated, 21st in a three-point effort and 24order in three percentage points last season (34.4%).

Enter Huerter, who averaged 12.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 2.7 APG in 74 games in 2021/22 (60 starts, 29.6 MPG). Looking at his shot count shows Huerter to be an above average marksman across all courts, with a true shot rate of 57% (58order percent), 62% at the edge (57order percentile), 48% from the median range (88%), 38.9% from the three point range (82nd percent), and 80.8% from the line (64order percentile), each DunksAndThrees.com.

Huerter’s ’21-22 counts are pretty similar to his career score of 11.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 3.2 APG in 274 games (216 starts, 29.6 MPG ), so the steady annual output is a strong selling point for the guard. He has shot from 38.0% to 38.9% depth in three of his four seasons, with a career scoring rate of 37.9%. He’s particularly lethal from corners, with a career-scoring rate of 43.1%, including 44.9% last season.

The 6-foot-7 Huerter fits the timeline of Fox (24) and Sabonis (26), when he turns 24 next month (David Mitchell turns 24 in September, Monk Malik also 24 years old and the first Keegan Murray is 21). He also has another four-year contract left, so he could become a fixture of the club for several seasons.

While he’s primarily known for his shooting prowess, Huerter is also a solid secondary game producer, with a career support-to-revenue ratio of 2.38-1. He is a very capable passer presenting above-average vision for two defenders. That will be useful to the Kings, who are only 22 years oldnd in the league in assists last season.

Huerter has proven himself to be a capable low-level player in the NBA, and I’d say that’s a compliment. Being among the 150 best players in the best league in the world is no easy task, and Huerter is in that group. Even when he is brought on from the bench for the Kings, he still shows he should be considered in that division and that he will be one of the best subs of the league.

Huerter has two main weaknesses. First, he is sometimes too passive in his attack and avoids contact, which is why he has managed to throw less than one free throw per game in his career for almost 30 minutes per game. fight, a very low rate. In turn, that’s why his true shooting rate is only above the league average once in his career (last season), despite the fact that he’s a single-player. strong gun.

The second weakness is that he is a slightly below average defender. He’s just a steady bouncer, and he’s skinny and can get pushed around even though he’s tall for his position. Huerter is not a liability, like some other professional shooters, but he is not an active one either.

It’s the less flashy end of the court where I don’t like the deal for the Kings, who only rank 27order in the league in defensive ratings last season. To be fair, they need help in basically every area, and Huerter is certainly a better player than Holiday or Harkless, but not in defence.

New head coach Mike Brown has built his career as a solid defensive tactician, but he can only do so with the men in the squad. That will continue to be an issue next season for Sacramento, as Fox and Sabonis are not the exact defensive pegs, nor are Monk, whom the team acquired in free agency to strengthen. shoots.

Holiday struggled during his brief stint with the Kings, scoring just 34.8 percent of his on-field goals in 25 games (he was also part of the Sabonis deal), and Harkless completed it. were eliminated at the end of the season. Both players are significantly older than Huerter (Holiday is 33 and Harkless is 29), and neither is part of Sacramento’s long-term plans, so their transfer shouldn’t be a huge loss though both All have had long careers for good reasons.

Perspective of the Hawk:

Let’s tackle this first: Atlanta doesn’t have to be would like to trade Huerter. Hawks fans will forever remember his performance in Game 7 in the team’s second playoff win over the Sixers in 2021, when Huerter scored 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the 10/18 shooting, helping Atlanta reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2nd time. two in the past 50 years. many years.

Moving Huerter is a short-term and long-term financial decision. The 4-year, $65 million rookie scale extension he signed just before ’21-22 kicks off next season and trades for Dejounte Murray push the team into luxury tax territory.

Hawks have a committed long-term salary Trae Young, John Collins and Clint Capela; Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic on the books for two more seasons; and Hunter De’Andre eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. The lineup has become expensive, and after acquiring an All-Star guard in Murray, either Huerter or Bogdanovic became expendable through no fault of their own.

Bogdanovic is a better player overall than Huerter and more used to coming on from the bench, both active for Atlanta. However, he’s about to have knee surgery, is older (he turns 30 next month) and makes more money over the next two seasons than Huerter, so the Hawks might not get the kind of package deals they wanted for him.

Holiday and Harkless, both on expiring contracts, will earn a combined $10.86 million in years 22-23, saving the Hawks $3.64 million after a pay rollover of $14.5 million Huerter dollars. Remember that by buying two players for one, the Hawks don’t have to fill in second place either – even a minimum wage deal hits the $1,836,090 cap, so that’s the real savings. in this deal closer to $5.48 million taking that into account.

Of the two newly acquired veterans, I would expect Holiday to provide more value on the field and get more playtime – he’s a much better outside shooter than Harkless (36 .5% career from three with a much higher volume than 32.0%), and I’ I’m sure the Hawks want for the first 2021 players Jalen Johnson more NBA playtime at the backup powering point next season.

Both Holiday and Harkless are well-traveled veterans and have top defense reputations. Holiday in particular delivered solid value during his time running with the Pacers from 2019-21. His defense is not as sharp as last season and his shooting may not be consistent, but he is definitely a return candidate with all the open looks he will get in the second in Atlanta.

Still, while the duo shouldn’t be discounted, the main draw for the Hawks in their deal with Sacramento is Huerter’s long-term pay cut and getting the 2024 first pick.

Of course, there’s no guarantee the pick will carry over for two years – the kings missed the playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons hitting an NBA record, so the fact that it’s protected by the lottery has may not bode well for Atlanta. However, Sacramento’s roster looks to be slightly better on paper heading into next season, particularly in attack, and the club will have another year to continue to upgrade before a selection can be made. convey.

If that happens in 2024, both teams will be happy – the Hawks will pick someone else on the first turn, recouping some draft equity after dealing with three picks in the first round (two turns) unprotected) and swapped picks in San Antonio for Murray, while the Kings finally broke their post-season drought.

If it doesn’t deliver by 2024, there’s still a good chance the Hawks could get a pick in 2025 (top 12 protected) or 2026 (top 10 protected). That might actually be the preferred scenario for them, as the first unprotected pick they trade with the Spurs is in 2025 and San Antonio has the right to swap in 2026.

The West is stacked, so a post-season landing is definitely not a given, but the Kings really have some interesting parts, most of them young. There are real-life situations where they get better over time and can make the live tournament or knockout go completely. Murray could be the wild card, because if he’s as ready for the NBA as he seems, he could be a game changer.

Overall, the Huerter deal is an easy deal for both parties to understand. The Kings have a nice, young starter who has another four years on a contract and addresses some of the roster weaknesses, and they defend the first player they’ve dealt with hoping it doesn’t spin. bit them again.

The Hawks erased long-term money and dodged taxes, gained a low-buy candidate in Holiday, a veteran presence in Harkless, and recouped a bit of draft equity after dropping a significant amount of money. for Murray.





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