Soaring Down South
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2018 NBA Draft: Trading Up Is Fruitless for Hawks

By Chris Guest

TOPSHOT - Real Madrid's Slovenian Luka Doncic (C-7) jumps over the barrier as the team celebrates their 85-80 win in the Euroleague Final Four finals basketball match between Real Madrid and Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul at The Stark Arena in Belgrade on May 20, 2018. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - Real Madrid's Slovenian Luka Doncic (C-7) jumps over the barrier as the team celebrates their 85-80 win in the Euroleague Final Four finals basketball match between Real Madrid and Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul at The Stark Arena in Belgrade on May 20, 2018. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images) /
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The Atlanta Hawks are in a terrific position to grab some franchise-altering talent in this offseason’s upcoming NBA draft after the draft lottery provided them with the 3rd overall pick.

The front office, led by new GM Travis Schlenk, has also set up the team with 4 picks in the first 33 or so slots of this draft.

The Hawks own the rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ first-round pick, which has been locked into 19th overall. Atlanta also has Houston’s first-round pick, which is locked into the 30th overall pick. The team also has its own second-round pick, which will be 34th overall.

Though many fans might be clamoring for Atlanta to consolidate some of those later picks in order to move up into the teens with their second pick of the first round, or even to package future picks in order to select 1st or 2nd, the negatives of a move like that outweigh the benefits – unless it can be guaranteed that you’re getting “the guy.”

Related: 6 Players the Hawks Could Take 3rd Overall

This draft is packed with a plethora of interesting wings and guards in the range where those latter three picks should land for Atlanta, so it would be unwise to package two or more of them (which might turn into great future players) into just one future great player.

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Whatever analogy you want to use, “more bites of the apple” or “more swings of the bat” are almost always better than trading away possible assets.

Secondly, according to all major draft outlets, there is a clear-cut top 7-8 players in this draft, so packaging all those picks would have to guarantee they make into that top 7 to 8 range.

Because the Hawks’ first-round picks (beyond their own) are projected to be late in the first round, it is unlikely that teams would be interesting in taking those less valuable picks for a chance to “hit” on a player in the latter stages of the first round – especially if they have a top-8 pick.

By packaging 2-3 of those late-second round picks, the Hawks would most likely only be able to move up into the mid-to-late teens in terms of their pick, which is not enough of a leap to merit trading all of those later selections.

Again, there is no shortage of interesting wing scorers or projected 3-and-D players in the latter stages of the first round or the start of the second. We’ve already discussed a few of the possibilities in our most recent Mock Draft, and we have a more comprehensive list here of non-lottery options here.

Next: 7 Players the Hawks Could Select 19th Overall

Stay tuned for more draft news as we get closer and closer to June’s NBA Draft.