Trade One: Hawks Move Up to #5
Why the Cavs do it: If you think Atlanta getting the 8th pick off 29 wins is bad, imagine how Cleveland is feeling. After losing LeBron (again), the Cavs went 19-63, tied for the 2nd-worst record in the league. They also have a much less developed start to their rebuild, with Collin Sexton and 30-year-old Kevin Love being the only building blocks there. Getting two slightly lower lottery picks would be tempting to a team that is starting from close to scratch, rather than just one at the 5 spot.
Why the Hawks do it: On paper it seems like a bad deal, or as the kids are saying these days, a fleece. However, I could see 2 reasons why this plays out. First being if the front office fell in love with a prospect that probably wasn’t going to drop to 8, say the Jarrett Culvers, De’Andre Hunters of the world. The second would be if some one was inexplicably falling on draft night, like R.J Barrett or Ja Morant. The temptation of moving up to get one of those guys would likely be too much.
Possibility ranking: 7/10. It has the potential to work out for both sides, but in a draft that is seen very top-heavy, the Cavs might decide to hang on to that 5 spot no matter what, instead of bolstering their rebuild with two top ten selections.