The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to trade former 2022 first-round pick AJ Griffin to the Houston Rockets in exchange for the 44th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft on Thursday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Griffin, who was drafted 16th overall by the Hawks in 2022 out of Duke, was a polarizing draft prospect valued for his offensive game. However, the young wing was never given a chance to earn his stripes with the Hawks due to injuries and being bumped down their depth chart. There were some rumblings in the past that Griffin was an essential part of a trade package Atlanta was offering the Toronto Raptors to try and acquire All-Star Pascal Siakam, who was eventually traded to the Indiana Pacers this past season.

After adding Reed Sheppard in the first round on Wednesday for offensive firepower on their bench, the Rockets have now added yet another young, dynamic scoring talent for their secondary unit at the expense of a low-value second-round pick in this year's draft.

With the Hawks, Griffin played in just 92 games. After playing in 72 games during his rookie season, averaging 8.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, Griffin saw the court just 20 times this past year. Over his first two years in the league, the former first-round pick has averaged 7.5 points per game while shooting 37.2 percent from three-point range.

The Hawks selected Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft on Wednesday night, which was one of the main reasons why Griffin became an immediate trade asset for them. Atlanta now enters the second round of the draft on Thursday with the 44th overall pick, giving them the opportunity to expand on their depth.

In the Western Conference, the Rockets are seeking to make a strong playoff push during the 2024-25 season. While Griffin still has work to do in order to be an everyday option for his team, the 20-year-old still has a ton of untapped potential as a scoring weapon. He will now compete against Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore, and Jae'Sean Tate for minutes in Houston.

At the cost of just a second-round pick, this is great value for the Rockets. Griffin was thought by some to be a potential lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, but he ended up falling to the Hawks with the 16th pick. The Rockets have always been known for having a great developmental team in the G League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and Griffin will likely spend time there during the 2024-25 season as Houston looks to mold him into whatever they would like.