2018 Draft Pick Updates After the Hawks’ Final Game
By Chris Guest
Even more excitingly, Atlanta has a stake in the terrifically exciting “play-in” game that occurs tonight in Minnesota. The Timberwolves face off against the Denver Nuggets with a postseason berth on the line, as both teams come in with an identical 46-35 record. In a game that should be a real barnburner, viewing this one might even be worth it to spend the seven-dollar, single-game fee on NBA League Pass to check it out (if you don’t have League Pass already, that is).
Hawks fans should be bedecked in royal blue, spruce green and gray, as Atlanta owns the Timberwolves pick but only if the team makes the playoffs. The pick is lottery protected, which means if the Wolves fall against the Nuggets, their pick will rocket into the 14th pick – and the Hawks lose it.
The 2018 draft is stacked, so Atlanta Hawks fans should be looking for a similar effort to what Karl-Anthony Towns did to the team a few weeks back – pouring a franchise-record 56 points on the team in a big victory.
The Nuggets have been playing extremely well of late, but Jimmy Butler is back for the Wolves, so their talismanic, alpha-dog leader should be able to rally the troops and defeat the lackluster defense of the Nugs with grit, determination and guile (and KAT).
If the Hawks lose Minnesota’s pick, it reverts to the same protections next year in what will be a draft class with decidedly less depth than this one.
Further down the line, Atlanta is already guaranteed to have the final pick in the first round (#30) via Houston, and their second-round pick will be within the top-35 or 36 – pseudo-first round territory.
A lot can change, but for now, Hawks fans should be cheering loud and proud for the Magic and Timberwolves – if just for a short time in order to help out the team’s draft positioning this offseason.
Next: Atlanta Hawks Mock Draft 3.0
Though the season is over, the offseason will most likely be even more exciting for the franchise as GM Travis Schlenk attempts to wheel and deal in the second year of a rebuild.