After the NBA Draft Lottery, ESPN’s Chad Ford put up his latest mock draft, where he projected the Atlanta Hawks to select Kentucky guard/forward James Young:
"The Hawks have been looking for another wing, and Young has tremendous upside here. If he had shot the ball more consistently as a freshman, he would have been selected six to eight spots higher. Still scouts are convinced there’s nothing wrong with his stroke and given a little more time, he could be a very effective defense stretcher."
The Hawks lived and died by the 3-pointer this past season (and especially in the final round of the NBA playoffs) and it seems that Young could be another player to help out shooting behind the 3-point line.
NBADraft.net compared Young to Arron Afflalo and Daequan Cook, but also said that Young didn’t have one true stand-out skill:
"Overall: Young has the foundation of skills to be a big time scorer down the line. His combination of youth, length, shooting and body control gives him a lot of potential. However, he’s still learning to pick his spots and will likely need to be given time to develop. Would be best suited going to a team with a veteran shooting guard to mentor him for a year or two."