preface
This season, if you ask which team is the most surprising, maybe it's the Jazz, maybe it's the Hawks, and some people will think it's the Cavaliers. But either way, this team has to be mentioned, and that's the Kings. Although they ended their seven-game winning streak, the last time they were able to achieve this was 17 years ago. What is this concept? Most of the players in the league are still in elementary school, and even James is only in the second year of his career. Now they're looking for a renaissance, and they've waited too long for this team in California's capital.
Since breaking the record for the longest playoff absence in NBA history, the Kings are destined to go down in history, but this group of Kings clearly does not want to continue this record, and with the excellent play of Fox, Sabonis Jr., Barnes and others, they are currently ranked in the top eight in the West. Of course, in addition to these people, there is another player that has to be mentioned, and that is 24-year-old Kevin Huert. This season, the young shooter has shown quite good shooting skills, averaging 16.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, including shooting 49.6% from three-point range. Let's take a look at Hult's growth path.
NCAA's marksman, the template is Tang God!
After being exposed to basketball at an early age, Hult fell in love with the sport, but compared to his peers, Hult's physical condition is not outstanding, and it is embarrassing that although his height is constantly increasing, he can not gain weight. Even if he later entered the NBA, after the corresponding nutritional matching, he still weighed only 86 kilograms under his height of 2.01 meters, not to mention how thin his size was before entering the NBA. In American basketball culture, what is advocated is physical confrontation, so for Hult, there is not enough strength to fight, he can only strengthen the projection, so since he was a child, he learned a fairly outstanding projection ability, whether in junior high school, or high school, he can become the varsity team's chief shooter, and eventually he was favored by the University of Maryland and successfully entered the NCAA.
In today's small-ball era, the outside offensive ability is particularly important, and Hult immediately gained the trust of the coach with his outstanding three-point hand, Huert is very good at running without the ball on the offensive end, and his physical fitness is quite good, which supports him to constantly pull space in the front court to find shooting time. In addition, his ability to grasp opportunities is quite good, and he contributed 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his freshman season. In his sophomore season, Hult improved his statistics to 14.7 points, and his increasingly refined three-point shooting ability attracted the attention of many scouts. In their eyes, Hult had a desperate chance of becoming a second Klay Thompson, and Hult also participated in the 2018 draft and was selected by the Hawks with the 19th overall pick.
It was once regarded as the hope of the team, but it spent 4 years dull.
The reason why the Hawks chose Kevin Hult has a lot to do with Trae Young, indeed whether it is a body template or an offensive tendency, the combination of Trae Young and Hult is very similar to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and Atlantans hope to create their own "splash brothers". In his rookie season, Hult didn't have much to shoot because he still had potential insiders like John Collins, but he still shot 38.5% from three-point range, hitting a total of 136 three-pointers, averaging 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team at the end of the season.
In the 19-20 season, the Hawks were still in a bad swing, but to Hurter's embarrassment, although he was the team's thunderous starter, he never had much shooting power, which was in stark contrast to Trae Young's unlimited firing power, and because of his relatively average defensive ability, it even became a gap for opponents to challenge in turn. As a result, his sophomore performance of 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists was somewhat disappointing compared to expectations. The 20-21 season was the Hawks' highest season in recent years, with the team reaching the Eastern Conference Finals without being favored. And Hult can steadily contribute 11+3+3 data both in the regular season and during the playoffs, and the production of three-pointers is also guaranteed, and in general, he has fully adapted to the intensity of the NBA. Last season, he continued his previous performance and averaged 21 points in four games at the end of the season, and coach Nate McMillan called him the team's MVP, and without Hult's help, the Hawks would have struggled to catch the final playoff run.
Join the king and usher in a new transformation.
Compared with Trae Young, Huert's performance is indeed not so prominent, but such a consistent three-point shooting ability is a very scarce resource in the small-ball era, so the Hawks also agreed to a four-year, $65 million early contract extension with him. However, with the team trading All-Star guard Deontay Murray, it also bodes well for Hult's position on the team. And it did, with the Hawks sending Hult to the Kings in order to get Justin Holladay, Maurice Harklis, and a future first-round pick.
However, what the Hawks did not expect was that it was in Sacramento that Hult ushered in a perfect metamorphosis. So far this season, he has averaged 32.2 minutes per game, contributing 16.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals, shooting 50% from the field and 49.6% from three-point range, respectively, setting career highs. And more statistically, Hult is the only player in the league who has made 100 three-point shots, but his shooting percentage can remain above 46%, which is enough to show how sharp his three-point shoots are and how stable his play is. He and Fox, one can burst and the other can shoot, which is a combination that no team wants to face, especially when it comes to defending on the line.
And don't forget, they also have Sabonis Jr., who is second only to Jokic in passing ability, and the Kings now have a very smooth offense, which has the taste of "Princeton", and Hult naturally contributes.