NBA
Atlanta’s GM Landry Shields says newly acquired No. 15 overall pick Kobe Bufkin already has the “Hawks DNA”
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated23 Jun 2023
The Hawks woke up this Friday with three new acquisitions after last night’s 2023 NBA Draft, headlining with No. 15 overall pick Kobe Bufkin, a University of Michigan product who was named to this year’s All-Big Ten Third Team.
In addition to him, Atlanta also recieved Seth Lundy from Penn State with the 46th pick and is agreeing in principle to draft rights over Mouhamed Gueye, who was selected as the 39th pick by Boston. This last one is a trade yet to be finalized, but is still on course to happen.
After two years playing for the Wolverines, Bufkin started in 33 out of his 61 games played and averaged 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23.3 minutes per contest. The six-foot-four guard started in every game of his past sophomore campaign, recording 14.0 points per game (.482 FG%, .355 3FG%, .849 FT%).
“I’ve mentioned before about Hawks DNA. Hawks DNA is about being in love with this game and giving it your all and you’d be surprised about how many guys do that and how many don’t. But he’s a guy that there’s no doubt about it … That’s a guy that loves this game. He’s an unbelievable person,” said Atlanta’s General Manager Landry Fields.
Bufkin dropped 10+ points in 24 out of his 33 matches played in the 2022/23 season, with seven performances hitting at least 20 points. His best game wearing the Michigan jersey was a 68-51 victory against Northwestern in February, when he almost reached a triple-double with a career-high 12 rebounds and 8 assists, which added to his 15 points, two steals and a block in 38 minutes of play.
“When we spoke with him in Chicago, that was another huge moment for me,” Fields recalled. “He’s just very mature, the way he sees the game, the feel, the IQ, the confidence that he has as well. Just a very fluid type of player. He can play on ball and off ball and defends and that’s big for us as well.”
The Michigan native helped his team reach the Sweet Sixteen stage in 2022’s NCAA Tournament and the second round of this year’s NIT. Fresh out of high school, Bufkin had been named a 2021 McDonald’s All-American.
Lundy heads to Georgia after four years representing Penn State University
46th pick Seth Lundy started in 96 games of his 122 games after four seasons at Penn State, holding career averages of 10.5 point and 4.6 rebounds after 26 minutes per contest.
He ended his spell in Pennsylvania as the sixth all-time player with most three-pointers (229), the ninth-best free throw efficiency (.814 FT%) and the 20th highest scorer with 1283.
“He was here for our last workout and he’s a guy we monitored. He really caught our eye at the combine and has an elite skill in shooting. He plays with toughness and he came out here and lit it up in front of us. That’s part of who he is. He’s been doing that for a long time at Penn State,” Fields referred to his new acquisition.
“He’s a guy where you can never have enough shooting and again, this is a character fit. These are guys that we want to build with that make it fun to build with, and guys that we know are going to maximize their potential,” he concluded.
