Perhaps Vanderbilt guard John Jenkins really was the best player available when it was time for the Hawks to make their first draft pick Thursday night.
It will take some time to determine if that's the case. What's clear is that Jenkins already has a skill that can help the Hawks.
Jenkins, the No. 23 overall pick, was the best perimeter shooter in NCAA Division I last season. Coach Larry Drew said that makes him a good fit for the Hawks.
"We have guys that can command double teams and break a team down," Drew said. "Who better to pass it to than a knock-down shooter?"
New Hawks general manager Danny Ferry passed on some younger, less-polished prospects to take Jenkins. The questions about Jenkins concern his relative lack of quickness. He'll have to prove he can defend quicker opponents and also get off his shot when NBA defenders crowd his jump shot.
Drew said Jenkins will figure out how to get open, adding that Jenkins "doesn't need a lot of daylight" to shoot. The Hawks held two workouts for Jenkins before the draft, and Hawks officials said Jenkins showed "deceptive" athletic ability during those sessions.
Jenkins said he heard that a lot from teams as he went around the workout circuit.
"They really underestimate [my athleticism]," he said. "I didn't show it so much at Vandy because that wasn't my role, and I didn't get enough opportunities."
Drew said he believes Jenkins can be an effective defender.
"I think he's got the package," Drew said. "It's just the know-how. Knowing personnel, knowing how to defend certain guys, what they like to do. This kid, he's a smart guy."
The Hawks have only six players under contract for next season. Some of the roster holes will be filled after the free-agency signing period begins Sunday, but the Hawks hope Jenkins can add youth after they had focused on acquiring veterans over the past few years.
The Hawks hired Ferry with the idea of developing younger players. Ferry served two front-office stints with the Spurs, who have a long history of finding productive players late in the draft.
"It's not been luck," Hawks co-owner Bruce Levenson said. "There really has been a devotion to a process [and] investment in things you can't look at and say, 'Oh, that's going to give you 'x' return on your investment.' It's something, taken collectively, that has produced the sort of home runs they've been able to produce in player development over a long period of time."
As expected, New Orleans selected Kentucky forward Anthony Davis with the No. 1 pick. Davis was voted NCAA national player of the year and most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament as Kentucky won the championship.
Charlotte drafted Davis' teammate, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, with the No. 2 pick. It's the first time that two players from the same college team were selected with the top two picks in the draft.
The Wizards selected Florida's Bradley Beal after Kidd-Gilchrist to make it three players in a row from the SEC at the top of the draft. The ACC was the last league to produce the top three picks: Brad Daugherty (North Carolina), Len Bias (Maryland) and Chris Washburn (North Carolina State) in 1986.
Jeremy Lamb's decision to return to Connecticut for his sophomore season paid off. The Rockets selected the former Norcross High star with the No. 12 overall pick.
