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With fans wondering what the plan will be for the Atlanta Hawks come the NBA Draft, their selections could also coincide with a possible free agent departure. As the Hawks' first pick is with the 13th overall pick and also the 22nd, there is a specific type of player they are looking for, according to the latest reporting from Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer.
In the most recent blog on “The Stein Line,” Fischer would speak about how Atlanta could be a team with various picks that are “exploring various avenues to move up the draft board.” Regarding what they are looking for, it's big men since the expectation is that Clint Capela will leave via free agency.
“We wrote yesterday that any word of Atlanta looking to package picks Nos. 13 and 22 to move up into the first round hadn't reached us yet,” Fischer said. “Well…Since publishing those words, various sources have indicated that they do believe the Hawks will fall right in line with Oklahoma City, Orlando, and Brooklyn as teams with multiple picks in the mid-to-late first round exploring various avenues to move up the draft board.”
“Rival teams have projected the Hawks as targeting big men with whatever draft slots they ultimately operate from,” Fischer continued. “After years of dangling Clint Capela on the trade block, Capela is finally expected to depart Atlanta via free agency this season, sources say. So the Hawks appear poised to have an opening for a center.”
Hawks look to continue with a build led by Trae Young
As even Hawks star Trae Young and his future have been questioned, there could be an avenue where the team could continue to build around the point guard with talent from the NBA Draft. One person who is with the idea is Zach Lowe, as he emphasized this plan on his self-titled show on “The Ringer.”
“I kind of want the Hawks to keep Trae Young long term. I don't think there's a great market for him. So I don't think there's a trade out there that completely just reorients the franchise in a positive way,” Lowe said on his show.
“If I can extend him at a decent number, I just kind of like their team, and I do think he'll change his style of play a little bit,” Lowe continued. “I think there's hope for like a Trae Young mid-career, metamorphosis is too strong of a word, but I could see, like, in a year, it's like, ‘oh my god, the Hawks are like, up 2-1 in the second round, and Trae Young is moving off the ball a little bit'…like I could see it.”
At any rate, Atlanta is looking to improve after 40-42, which put them ninth in the Eastern Conference.
