Should the Atlanta Hawks trade up to pick No. 7
According to Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report, the Golden State Warriors are actively shopping their first pick in the 2020 NBA draft, which is seventh overall. The Atlanta Hawks have a number of decisions to make this offseason and it might make their choices easier if they have this pick.
Last season the Hawks had the sixth pick in the NBA draft and selected Onyeka Okongwu. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Okongwu just had shoulder surgery and is likely to miss the next six months, which thanks to the offseason, he is likely to miss only three months of the actual season.
The Hawks have just extended a qualifying offer to John Collins, meaning that they have made him a restricted free agent. However, he is likely to have a large number of teams chasing him this offseason and this might price him out of the Hawks range, despite the owners stating they were willing to go into the luxury tax.
Could the Atlanta Hawks benefit from the seventh pick?
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With the Hawks coming so close to the NBA Finals last season, there is a temptation to run it back and see if they can go the next step with the same squad. Who knows what may have happened if Trae Young didn’t get injured midway through the Eastern Conference Final series.
As this draft is one of the deepest in a long time the Hawks may be able to select a player who can help them. It is meant to be a five-player draft, the seventh pick sounds great, but may not keep the Hawks at the level they were this season.
This is especially true considering that the Hawks would need to give up a quality player to get this pick. They would need to give up either Cam Reddish, Kevin Huerter, or another quality player to secure this pick.
Next. Bobby Portis is an intriguing option if he opts out. dark
While this may be a solid strategy if they were totally sold on keeping Collins as it means that they could afford to pay him the max, the jury is still out on whether he deserves this contract. So the question remains, should the Hawks try and trade up for this pick. The answer has to be no, it would put them back a year or two on their development timetable.