2013-2014 Atlanta Hawks Player Profiles: Jared Cunningham

March 8, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oregon State Beavers guard Jared Cunningham (1) controls the ball against the Washington Huskies during the second round of the 2012 Pac 12 Tournament in the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

We are less than one month away from the beginning of Hawks training camp and the exhibition season, and with that, it’s time to ramp up our coverage with some player previews! First, we’ll take a look at former Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Jared Cunningham.

The Player

Cunningham was drafted in the 1st-round by the Mavericks in 2012, but only appeared in 8 games thanks to a deadly combination of injury and ineffectiveness. He is a bit of an undersized shooting guard at 6-foot-4, but at the same time, he’s probably the most “prototypical” shooting guard on the roster thanks to the interesting measurables from John Jenkins and Lou Williams.

On the whole, the former Oregon State product is a big-time athlete, and that showed through in his 1st-round draft selection. However, he battled knee issues as a rookie, and the fact that he doesn’t have a defined offensive game was evident in his limited minutes. Cunningham doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well (making just 34% of his threes at the college level), but in college, he was a strong finisher at the rim despite his relative size limitations. The biggest knock on Cunningham (outside of pure shooting) is his handle, and while people projected him as a possible point guard in college, that notion quickly dissipated based on a large sample of sub-average ball-handling for his size.

Defensively, he could be a high-impact player, but we don’t really have the amount of data needed to project that. He’s very quick, which helps in a high-pressure environment, but again, at 6-foot-4, there is only so much you can do against 6’7-6’8 players with elite length at the position.

Role on the Roster

This is where it gets a bit tricky. Cunningham is clearly the low man on the totem pole in the backcourt despite being the most prototypical shooting guard on the roster. Lou Williams and John Jenkins (we’ll come back to them) are both poised to play significant minutes at the position, and it’s a good bet that we’ll see lineups that feature Dennis Schröder and Kyle Korver there at times as well.

Short of injury, I can’t see a scenario where Cunningham is a regular contributor, but with Williams recovering from ACL surgery, there could be an early opening for playing time if everything falls into place for Cunningham.

Prediction

If forced to predict anything definitively, I would say that Cunningham plays only sparingly in blowout scenarios, and may grab an occasional stint of rotational playing time in the event of injury. Along with Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack, Cunningham will likely be relegated to towel waving for the majority of the season, and this is the final year of his guaranteed contract as a 1st-round pick.