{"id":801433,"date":"2026-08-03T16:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801433\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:17:13","slug":"kingston-flemings-given-ultimate-opportunity-to-succeed-in-hawks-second-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801433\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingston Flemings given ultimate opportunity to succeed in Hawks\u2019 second unit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">The Atlanta Hawks weren&#8217;t taking much of a gamble when they selected Kingston Flemings with the eighth-overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">Originally projected to land in the top-five following an impressive freshman season with the Houston Cougars, he fell on many draft boards due to combine measurements that were primarily described as less than ideal.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">An opportunity to select a top talent in the back-half of the lottery doesn&#8217;t come by often, and the Hawks weren&#8217;t going to let it pass. Still, success can depend on situation.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">What they didn&#8217;t want to do was let <a href=\"https:\/\/soaringdownsouth.com\/kingston-flemings-precision-gives-hawks-everything-theyve-been-lacking\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">their rookie point guard<\/a> enter his first NBA season with more of a weight on his back than necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Flemings will be able to operate freely in the second unit, with help<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">Regardless of whether a rookie begins their career in the starting lineup or among the bench unit, the players they&#8217;re surrounded with end up having a major impact on their success. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">Sometimes, and these days more often than not, a top selection immediately becomes a focal point. The hefty responsibility can benefit some, but it&#8217;s often when career-defining narratives are placed.<\/p>\n<p>Many players dream of beginning their careers in a situation similar to Flemings. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">He&#8217;s not going to start on opening night. He may not even start a game all season. He&#8217;s going to play, though. Every night. He&#8217;ll be the lead facilitator for a very talented and improved group backing up the starters. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">If he arrived last season, maybe he wouldn&#8217;t have had that luxury. Atlanta&#8217;s bench was one of their biggest weaknesses in the prior campaign, ultimately leading to their first-round defeat to the eventual-champion New York Knicks. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">Since, they&#8217;ve been aggressive, bringing in Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins &#8211; two <a href=\"https:\/\/soaringdownsouth.com\/hawks-overlooked-addition-could-solidify-jump-in-eastern-conference\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">defensive beasts with championship experience<\/a> and proven buy-in mentalities. They won&#8217;t let a thing happen to their rookie point guard, and they&#8217;ll certainly make life easier for him on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n<p>His eventual transition to the starting lineup will be a seamless fix<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6q\">Of course, the end goal for Flemings will be to operate as this team&#8217;s starting point guard. They wouldn&#8217;t have drafted him in the top ten if it wasn&#8217;t. It&#8217;s also why they re-signed veteran guard CJ McCollum to just a one-year deal. He&#8217;s going to be the bridge for Flemings. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6t\">A year of experience leading one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/soaringdownsouth.com\/corey-kispert-set-for-impossible-path-to-minutes-with-new-look-hawks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">league&#8217;s best second-units<\/a> will do wonders for his development and inevitable taking of the reigns. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow soaringdownsouth.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=soaringdownsouth.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Hawks weren&#8217;t taking much of a gamble when they selected Kingston Flemings with the eighth-overall pick&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-801433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}