Syracuse Basketball: Grading the Orange in the NBA

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Guard. Atlanta Hawks. ANDREW WHITE III. C+.

White had all the odds stacked against him going into his rookie campaign. A good 3-point shooting guard at 6-7 may have helped his cause a bit, but overall, a 24 year old rookie never sounds pleasant. However, White has definitely proven his worth in season number one.

White played only played in 15 games for the Hawks, but did see good court time, at 14 minutes a game. He was able to score 4.6 PPG and grab 2.3 RPG, per ESPN. Perhaps the biggest part of White’s success was his 3-point shooting, as White connected on 18 of 49 threes, good for 37% from behind the arc. Andrew also had a career-high 15 points in his NBA debut against Detroit. Expect to see much more from White next season.

Andrew also played extremely well in the G-League. He averaged 15.6 PPG, grabbed 4.5 RPG, and made 100 threes out of 247 attempts, good for 40.5% from long range per G-League. This not only showed that White knows how to shoot the basketball, but that he can do it consistently. He also rebounds well from the guard position.

If White can hone in on his handles, he can be a very good player in the NBA. Nowadays, positions 1 thru 4 need to be able to handle the ball, and White does so adequately, but not at a high level. If he can change this for the better, he will see much more time in the NBA next season.

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