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Draft day has arrived.
The 2024-2025 NBA season officially came to a close Sunday night with the Oklahoma City Thunder winning the championship over the Indiana Pacers. Unlike other major sports, the offseason is literally around the corner in the NBA, and we have already seen major moves being made. The Orlando Magic traded for Desmond Bane, and yesterday, the Houston Rockets made a big move to acquire Kevin Durant from Phoenix. There is sure to be more on the way, and the 2025 NBA Draft will provide plenty of opportunity for fireworks
While the No. 1 pick of the draft is already set in stone, there are questions throughout the rest of the lottery, and one of the most interesting teams to watch on draft night is going to be the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks got some lottery luck by landing the No. 13 pick courtesy of the Sacramento Kings, but they no longer have two first-round picks. They sent No. 22 to the Brooklyn Nets last night as part of the three-team trade that netted them Kristaps Porzingis.
Now, what will the Hawks do at No. 13? Do they stay put and take the best player available, something general manager Onsi Saleh mentioned frequently in his initial press conference on Monday.
Here are the predictions from us here at Atlanta Hawks On SI:
Jackson: How does the Porzingis trade affect the Hawks' approach at No.13? Truthfully, probably not much. Atlanta is still going to need another big on the team due to Porzingis having a lengthy injury history, so that is still on the table, but so are others. Trading down should still be on the table as well, though I do think that is going to be less likely. There are a number of players for the Hawks to consider with the No. 13 pick, and I am going to say they stay put and select Washington State's Cedric Coward. He adds shooting around Trae Young and gives them another athletic wing player. If Joan Beringer were to make it this far, don't think it is out of the question that the Hawks take him, let him develop for a season, and become the main backup big when Porzingis's contract is up.
Rohan: With the 22nd pick officially not in play for Atlanta any longer, the Hawks are less likely to trade up. If he can stay healthy, Kristaps Porzingis will be a very effective player for Atlanta and they should do everything in their power to keep him healthy. Bringing him off the bench might be the best way to achieve that - they got a lot out of Zaccharie Risacher in his rookie season and haven't gotten the chance to evaluate him next to Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu due to Okongwu's late rise as a starter and Johnson's injury. As a result, there shouldn't be any urgency to remove Johnson or Okongwu from the starting lineup. Assuming that Porzingis plays more of a reserve role, I think the Hawks will trade down with a team like Brooklyn or Oklahoma City (both of whom have multiple first-rounders in this draft class) and select Colorado State guard Nique Clifford. Clifford is a 6'5 wing who can play either SG or SF - he's a great defender who can guard multiple positions and passes extremely well while showing major shooting improvement this year (shot 37.7% from deep on 4.9 attempts per game). Atlanta's perimeter defense struggled a lot this season and Clifford would improve that while also giving the Hawks some insurance in case Caris LeVert doesn't return in free agency.
Kahlil: Now that the Hawks have officially traded their 22nd pick of the NBA Draft for Kristaps Porzingis, they will still likely be in the hunt for another seven-footer, and that would be Khaman Maluach. The Hawks should still consider trading up to acquire Maluach, depending on what they would have to give up to draft him. They still have the 13th pick in the draft, but my prediction would be between Maluach and Danny Wolf to complete the center position in the future. I like both of their fits with the team, as they can both run pick-and-roll with Trae Young and get easy shots at the basket while also defensively causing havoc in the paint and sometimes on switches on the perimeter.
More Atlanta Hawks Draft Coverage:
More must-reads:
- Insider suggests Giannis Antetokounmpo's days in Milwaukee 'numbered'
- Do NBA players secretly admire Kawhi Leonard's alleged side hustle?
- The 'Most NFL QB two-rushing-TD games' quiz
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