The NBA Draft is a couple of weeks away, and a favorite prospect seems to be emerging for the Hawks.
Executives believe that Zaccharie Risacher and Donovan Clingan are the top two prospects on Atlanta’s big board, according to Brett Siegel. However, it’s evident that the UConn big man has fans within the Hawks’ front office.
“There is a growing belief that the Hawks like Clingan much better than anyone else available at the top of the draft,” Siegel wrote.
Despite this, there is still ample time before draft night. One prospect not receiving much attention is Reed Sheppard. While most pundits predict it will be either Risacher, Clingan, or Alex Sarr going to Atlanta, one bold draft analyst believes the Kentucky sharpshooter could be under consideration.
“I’m afraid because of the Jokic, Luka, Caitlin Clark, Chet Hanks White Boy Summer, is the world ready for Reed Sheppard to go No. 1 as a 6-foot-1.5 guard from Kentucky? I just don’t know if people are ready for this,” said Ryen Russillo on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
Now, Russillo is disguising a legitimate take inside of a joke, but I love Reed Sheppard, so I figured I’d talk about the prospect of the Hawks taking him with their top pick or trading down.
During his freshman campaign, he averaged 12.5 points through 33 games on 53.6% shooting from the field and an eye-popping 52.1% from beyond the arc. He’s not big, but he’s a tenacious defender who can thrive off the ball. On-ball defense and off-ball offense are a perfect complement for Trae Young.
He just contributes to winning basketball, and Russillo had a very impressive thing to say about the Kentucky product.
“I’m just telling you, he’s probably one of the best shooting prospects I’ve seen in 20 years of doing the draft,” Russillo added.
For a Hawks team that needs to be concerned about getting bigger, Reed Sheppard doesn’t make much sense, but I’m just a fan of his game, even if the fit doesn’t make a ton of sense right now.