Grading The Atlanta Hawks Selection' of Houston PG Kingston Flemings At No. 8 Overall

The Atlanta Hawks have made their selection at No. 8 overall and it's a player that many thought they would take.

They've selected former Houston Cougars star point guard Kingston Flemings. Simply put, I think this is a great pick for the Hawks. I can understand the process and the player is fantastic. I do have some concerns, but they are outweighed by what Flemings could bring to Atlanta.

First Thoughts on Flemings

Let's start with the positives. Flemings is one of the most impressive passers and sped-up players in the class. He had an elite shuttle time of 2.69 at the NBA Combine, which speaks to how seamless of a transition player he could be for the Hawks. He's also got an impressive 2.91 assist/turnover ratio despite being the only ball-handler of note on a Houston team that was very defensively tilted and lacked a ton of scorers.

As a true freshman, he averaged 16.1 points, 5.2 assists and 4.1 rebounds on 47,6/38.7/84.5 shooting splits. While he only took 2.9 threes a game, it must also be factored in that Flemings was not playing in a spacing-heavy system at Houston. He's a decent midrange shooter, but the shooting isn't where he's going to earn his selection at No. 8.

Instead, it's the fact that he's one of the most cerebral and natural passers at the PG position in college. Flemings had an extremely impressive AST% of 32.6% and he's unusually good at finding teammates when he's playing fast. That sounds like a great fit with the high-octane offense that the Hawks have been working towards.

Off the court, he seems to be exactly what the Hawks are looking for. It's not something that can always be weighed equally with basketball skills, but Flemings' leadership, toughness and mentality stand out for a Hawks team that is still building its culture. That makeup is evident in his defense. He averaged 1.7 steals per 36 minutes, he's got great discipline and his foot speed/strength is surprising for someone who is on the smaller side.

Unfortunately, it has to be discussed that the Houston PG is a bit small relative to others at his position. He's 6'2.5 with a 6'3.5 wingspan and he's only got 183.4 lbs on him. That's just going to be a mistmatch in certain situations. He is still 19 years old, so there is a chance that he has some untapped room for physical development.

Even so, that's certainly a risk that the Hawks are going to have to mitigate. Furthermore, he wasn't a great finisher at the rim and that's going to be a concern for a smaller guard at the next level. There's a decent chance he's a Reed Sheppard variant and we've seen how that model struggles at the NBA level.

In terms of the position and how their pick fits with Atlanta's broader roster, he's going to slot in behind NAW, CJ McCollum and Dyson Daniels to start. That is a blessing rather than a detriment - rookie guards take time to develop and the Hawks don't have any pressure to thrust him into a starting role from Day 1.

Even with the depth they have at guard, it is still arguable that this was Atlanta's biggest need to address in the draft.

Obviously, the Hawks had no answer for Karl-Anthony Towns on the roster and one could argue that a floor-spacing center who can also protect the rim is their biggest need. Still, that isn't realistically something the Hawks could fix in the draft. More consistently, they lost to the Knicks because they ran out of players who could create their own shot and run around on the perimeter. That speaks to needs in the backcourt.

Furthermore, Dyson Daniels is an incredible player and he can obviously develop further into someone who can punish defensive schemes who just leave him open. However, it can't be ignored that he's struggled offensively in the playoffs for two straight seasons. McCollum is approaching the end of his career and it'd be frankly insane to expect the same heater of a performance that he gave the Hawks in the first round.

They need to start planning for the future at that position and giving themselves some insurance if Daniels continues to hamstring the offensive spacing at the higher levels of the playoffs.

I really like this pick for Atlanta and I can see exactly why they picked him. I have some questions about how the size will translate at the next level, but this is great work from president of basketball operations Onsi Saleh. He landed arguably the best point guard in the draft at No. 8.

Grade: B+

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