Jun 27, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Shane Larkin (Miami) shakes hands with NBA commissioner David Stern after being selected as the number eighteen overall pick to the Atlanta Hawks during the 2013 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
There are only ten days left before the Hawks finish off their 2013-14 regular season campaign. The Eastern Conference standings still have a lot of opportunities for many teams to grab better seeds and the Hawks are continuing their push to hold onto the 8th seed. Now two games ahead of the Knicks, the goal of keeping the spot seems easier to achieve for the Hawks. With that in mind, some may already be looking ahead to the NBA draft that will follow the conclusion of the season and a number of players are already preparing for that special night in late June.
Over the past few weeks, I have prepared a number of profiles for players that may be on Atlanta’s radar for a selection with one of their two picks in the upcoming draft. The first part of this series focused primarily on International prospects as well as D-League prospects, and before I shift attention to college athletes in the coming days, here is a look into where the Hawks will likely be selecting and who experts have projected for those picks.
The 8th seed in the East will be selecting 15th and 45th in the upcoming draft and with the Hawks on their way to keeping that spot, the team will get the first chance to pick outside the lottery.
DraftExpress still has the Hawks in the 11th spot in their draft order, where Jusuf Nurkic is projected, but with the website not yet taking the teams in each spot into account we can look at their projection for the 15 pick at the moment, who happens to be Gary Harris of Michigan State.
Harris declared for the 2014 draft last week and may be the first shooting guard off the board this year. The shooting guard position may be a focus for the Hawks in the draft and Harris will certainly get looks from the front office as the draft approaches.
The CBS Sports staff also has the 15th spot going to a shooting guard, as both Gary Parrish and Zach Harper are projecting Nik Stauskas of Michigan, while Matt Moore also lists Gary Harris here. Here is what each person said about the pick:
15. Atlanta Hawks
Nik Stauskas, SG, Michigan:
"Parrish: The Hawks could always use another shooter, and Stauskas is that and more. The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year has shot around 45 percent from 3-point range in consecutive years. Combine that with good size for his position, and what you have is a lottery pick.Harper: The Hawks want to space the floor and offer up outside shooting like Mike Budenholzer had as an assistant coach in San Antonio. A great step toward making that happen is grabbing Stauskas and having him with Kyle Korver on the court."
Gary Harris, SG, Michigan State:
"Moore: Harris plays a little undersized but he can shoot the lights out. Atlanta needs a scorer."
Basketball Insiders’ Yannis Koutroupis also took a look at the 2014 draft and currently has Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein going to the Hawks in his lasted mock. The center was absent from the NCAA Tournament final, but is expected to decide on whether he will declare or not in the coming weeks.
A number of players will be in play for the Hawks in both rounds and the profiles for these players can be found below as well as their current projections:
DraftExpress: 9th
CBS Sports Staff:
Parrish: 16th
Harper: 11th
Moore: 23rd
DraftExpress: 11th
CBS Sports Staff:
Parrish: 27th
Harper: 30th
Moore: Not Listed
Basketball Insiders: 33rd
DraftExpress: 13th
CBS Sports Staff:
Parrish: 18th
Harper: 27th
Moore: 25th
Basketball Insiders: 14th
Gary Harris, SG, Michigan State
DraftExpress: 15th
CBS Sports Staff:
Parrish: 10th
Harper: 10th
Moore: 15th
Basketball Insiders: 10th
P.J. Hairston, SG, Texas Legends
DraftExpress: 21st
CBS Sports Staff:
Parrish: 21st
Harper: 38th
Moore: 17th
Basketball Insiders: 23rd
Bogdan Bogdanovic, G/F, Partizan
DraftExpress: 27th
CBS Sports Staff:
Parrish: Not Listed
Harper: 43rd
Moore: 30th
Basketball Insiders: 36th
Thanasis Antetokounmpo, G/F, Delaware 87ers
DraftExpress: 58th
CBS Sports Staff:
Parrish: Undrafted
Harper: 50th
Moore: 44th
Basketball Insiders: 51st
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I’ll continue to update this list as the draft approaches.
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