NBA Draft 2014: Atlanta Hawks select PF Adreian Payne with 15th overall pick

With the 15th pick of the 2014 NBA Draft the Atlanta Hawks have selected Adreian Payne, a power forward from Michigan State.

Here’s DraftExpress’s scouting report on Payne:

"Adreian Payne[/b]’s transformation into the focal point of Michigan State’s offense over the years was something to watch, and despite only playing just over 28 minutes per game, partially due to a lung ailment that impacts his stamina — Payne used 14.8 possessions per game, one of the higher marks among this group despite his relatively low playing time.Payne’s development shows in the diversity of his offensive role as he saw 27.7% of his offense on post ups, 20% from spot-up attempts, 10.5% in pick and roll spots, 7.8% from put-backs, and 7.2% off of cuts. He also managed to improve his jump shot considerably, which made up 41.8% of his offense and from which he scored 0.92 points per shot, making good progress in his ability to expand his range out to the collegiate three point line. This expanding of his offensive arsenal should help Payne adapt to the lesser role he’ll play in the NBA."

Last year, the Atlanta Hawks picked up two foreign players in the first round in Lucas Nogueira and Dennis Schroder. Schroder played in extremely limited minutes last season with Atlanta, playing in 49 games and averaging just 3.7 minutes per game. Nogueira played outside of the country for the entire year (as expected) and also had to deal with knee tendinitis that kept him off the court for three months. Still, if he can add some weight, Nogueira has plent of upside, while Schroder showed glimpses of being a solid NBA player as well.