​The Atlanta Hawks were in a strong position in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft with two picks.While No. 8 overall pick Kingston Flemings was Atlanta’s top selection, the team was also able to add a promising piece at No. 23 overall in Zuby Ejiofor.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe big man had a decorated collegiate career that included Big East Player of the Year recognition in his senior campaign, but he was never much of a shooter during his four years of NCAA ball.That may need to change at the NBA level, and the Hawks seem to realize it. They’ve been telling the rookie to let it fly during Summer League play.“Yeah, they just tell me to go out there and step up with confidence,” he told the New York Post. “Let the shots fly. And I think that’s what I’ve done pretty much all summer league. But just playing to my strengths, my offensive rebounding, my physicality. Those are some of the things, my effort, those are some of the things I flash on a night-to-night basis.”Hawks Summer League coach Sanjay Lumpkin confirmed that the team wants to empower Ejiofor to shoot.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We’re empower­ing all our guys to shoot, and we want to empower [Ejiofor] to shoot that shot,” Lump­kin said. “It’s great that he’s more and more con­fid­ent.”In four total Summer League games between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Ejiofor has averaged 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The concerning part is that he’s shooting just 36.4 percent from the field overall. The encouraging part is that he’s shooting 35.3 percent from beyond the arc and had a 2-for-2 effort from deep in his last performance.In college, Ejiofor shot 70.9 percent from the free-throw line across his four seasons, which can sometimes be an indicator of whether a player has the potential to become a capable shooter. That’s certainly one reason to be optimistic.In addition, he showed a little growth as a 3-point shooter in his final two seasons in college. Although the same size wasn’t huge in either season, he went from a 22.2 percent 3-point shooter as a junior to a 30.5 percent 3-point shooter as a senior.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIf he can become a stretch player, his game will hugely benefit. Of course, he has plenty of other plus attributes that helped him land in the first round of the draft, and he may be able to use those tools to make an impact even without a consistent outside shot. But it would certainly go a long way.His growth will be something to watch as his rookie campaign approaches, especially since fellow Hawks big man Mouhamed Gueye recently suffered an injury that could open up more minutes for Ejiofor to start the season.