After the tremendous Rookie of the Year-level success of the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell, every NBA team will be looking for steals in the 2018 Draft and the Atlanta Hawks are no different (we’ve already highlighted a player the Hawks could take that might match Mitchell’s hot start).
The Hawks did incredibly well in the 2017 Draft, nabbing likely franchise cornerstone John Collins with the 19th pick last year as well as solid rotation player Tyler Dorsey in the second round.
With 4 picks in the Top 33 selections of this year’s draft, the team has far more draft collateral than they’ve had in recent years, and with a new front office in place – as well as a new coach – the organization will be able to convey a unified front and focus on exactly who they want to develop. Perhaps one (or more) of these prospects will fall to Atlanta due to a myriad of reasons.
The science of projecting NBA players is not set in stone, so there are always diamonds in the rough available as teams differ on a player’s ceiling or the immediate impact a prospect might have.
We’ve outlined 4 players that might fall to Atlanta with some of their later picks in the draft (19th overall and beyond), and who might develop into being labeled the “steal of the 2018 NBA draft.”