A swift recap of recent news regarding the Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks in the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft.
The Atlanta Hawks are set up quite well in the 2019 NBA Draft, though, of course, they would have preferred to nab the #1 overall pick in the draft in order to select the singular skills of Zion Williamson. However, it wasn’t all bad, as the team was able to retain the Dallas Mavericks’ #10 overall pick acquired from the Luka Doncic/Trae Young trade.
However, news recently broke via Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN that the New York Knicks are interesting in trading down in the 2019 NBA Draft from their perch at #3 overall – and the Hawks were mentioned as a potential suitor for the deal.
We have previously explored the idea of moving up in the 2019 NBA Draft – though there are plenty of pitfalls the Atlanta Hawks could fall into if they indeed did make this move.
Are the Knicks a lock to draft RJ Barrett at No. 3? Not quite. They are definitely exploring a number of alternatives, for example the possibility of sliding back and acquiring the No. 8 and 10 picks from the Hawks. That and much more here: https://t.co/h4ygUShm10 pic.twitter.com/cPTj5VwnAG
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 31, 2019
With this draft class being widely singled out as having two rock-solid no-doubters in it – beyond Zion of course – in Ja Morant and R.J. Barrett, the Hawks would be expected to select whichever one of those players was still available at #3 overall.
Though it was expected to be Barrett early on in the draft process, Morant recently underwent a minor procedure to clean up debris from his right knee, and then news broke that the Grizzlies might not be as committed to Morant at #2 as originally thought – opening up a world of options in the 2019 NBA Draft after the #1 overall pick is predictably Zion.
Of course, if the Atlanta Hawks do trade up, the team might just throw everyone for a loop and select someone else – Cam Reddish, Jarrett Culver or De’Andre Hunter spring to mind – but one of those players will likely be left over at #8, which would negate trading up in the first place.
It’s early days yet, but the 2019 NBA Draft will be here in only two and a half weeks, so the Atlanta Hawks must get their ducks (or Hawks I suppose) in a row before then.