2019 NBA Draft: Full Atlanta Hawks Mock Draft If Team Trades Up to #5 Overall
By Chris Guest
player. 125. . Big. Atlanta Hawks. Goga Bitadze. 8
The Atlanta Hawks recently hosted a workout with international prospect Goga Bitadze, and he said all the right things:
Goga Bitadze said he watched a lot of the Hawks when he was overseas. Said he compares his team to Atlanta's -- a young team that runs the floor and plays freely. "Trae Young is a great player and John Collins has hops." Also mentioned Vince Carter and Alex Len by name.
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) June 13, 2019
In previous mock drafts, the Atlanta Hawks have taken a bevy of players with the #8 overall pick. But in this scenario, with their high-upside wing already taken in the form of Culver, the team should opt for an extremely talented young big man in Bitadze.
Bitadze turns 20 in July, meaning he will be on the exact same timeline that Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and John Collins played on in their first seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. Beyond that, Bitadze is a natural, fluid athlete who was often the best player on his teams across the various EuroLeague teams he played for during the season.
Bitadze was so good in the 23.6 minutes per game he played during the season per Tankathon, that the nearly seven-foot big man was given the Rising Star award in the EuroLeague – following in the prodigious footsteps of Luka Doncic and many other big names before him.
Per Tankathon, Goga produced some sterling per-36 minute numbers over 13 games this season: 18.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 1.8 assists with a 62.2 percent true shooting percentage.
Beyond that, Bitadze was impressive in his workout with the Hawks, so it might be possible that the team takes the plunge on him at #8 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.