Report: Hawks trying to move up in the NBA Draft

The NBA doesn’t provide much of an opportunity for its fans to rest. The season just ended on Sunday, and the NBA Draft is set to take place in a couple of days, with the Atlanta Hawks owning two first-round picks (#13 and #22).

However, according to Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports, the Hawks are aggressively attempting to move up the board, even calling teams as high as the top five.

“League sources say the Hawks are looking to move way up from this pick and have called teams even drafting in the top five,” O’Connor writes. “They are targeting a center. So if they stay put, it only makes sense to give them Beringer, the best lob threat remaining on the board. Beringer began playing basketball only three years ago, which makes him a raw project, but also makes his natural talents all the more impressive. He is a center, but has the quickness of a guard, giving him immense defensive versatility to build on for years to come.”

Most draft analysts believe the Hawks hope to land a replacement for Clint Capela in this year’s draft, who is expected to find a new home in free agency. O’Connor has Atlanta taking 6-foot-10 inch Joan Beringer if they can’t find a deal that makes sense to move up; however, Duke’s Khaman Maluach feels like who they could be targeting up the board.

The 7-foot-1, 253-pound center is the most physically imposing specimen in the entire draft. As a freshman for the Blue Devils, he averaged 8.6 points on 71.2% from the field to go along with 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in just 21.2 minutes.

O’Connor also has the Hawks taking Kasparas Jakucionis with the 22nd pick in his latest mock draft.

“This is probably too low for KJ. He’s been connected to teams drafting in the late lottery,” O’Connor writes. “But the reality is that someone will inevitably fall, and in this mock it’s him. And maybe that could be a blessing in disguise since pairing Jakučionis with Trae Young would allow them both to play off-ball more often, alleviating the pressure on Jakučionis to be a primary shot-creator. As a freshman he’d follow up highlights with turnover brain-farts that would derail the hype train. But in Atlanta, he could pick his spots that show off his creative passing gene and a fearless scoring ability.”