Atlanta Hawks Select Georgia Forward Asa Newell in the 2025 NBA Draft

Georgia forward Asa Newell is officially off the board in the 2025 NBA Draft.

The 2025 NBA draft has officially begun and Georgia forward Asa Newell is officially off the board. The Atlanta Hawks selected Newell with the 23 rd pick in the first round. Newell becomes the first Bulldog to be drafted in the first round since Anthony Edwards in 2020.

Newell spent one season with the Bulldogs and helped lead them to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015. Georgia also had its first 20-game win season since 2015 as well. The former five-star recruit was a major elevator for the Bulldogs and still has not tapped into his ceiling.

This past season, Newell averaged 15.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field. He registered seven double-doubles this season and had a career-high 26 points. In Georgia's round one loss to Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament, Newell posted 20 points, eight rebounds and shot 6/10 from the floor.

During his time in college, Newell proved to be both a polished scorer down low and decent defender on the other end. He has some ability to shoot from behind the arc, but lacked some consistency. Hwoever, it's worth noting that Newell also showed signs of continuous growth as a Bulldog. That can expected to continue as he now makes the jump to the NBA.

Coming out of high school, Newell was a five-star prospect, the 19th-best player in the country, the fourth-best power forward and the fifth-best player in the state of Florida, according to composite rankings.