Atlanta Hawks: Will the NBA draft impacts the Orlando Magic season series
The 2021 NBA draft has been and gone and franchises have made decisions that they hope will have a positive impact on their futures. The Atlanta Hawks selected Jalen Johnson with the 20th pick in the first round and Sharife Cooper with the 48th pick in the second round. To say that Travis Schlenk has done it again would be an understatement.
Schlenk had to try and get the best value he could with the late first-round pick and he has given the Hawks what they needed. Other teams had much higher picks in the Southeast division and we now take a look at the impact of their picks for the season series in 2021-22.
The Orlando Magic only had two picks in the 2021 NBA draft but they were both very good ones. They had the fifth and the eighth pick in a very deep draft. The fifth pick was their own due to their low finish in the regular season. Their mid-season trade with the Chicago Bulls netted them the eighth pick.
The Atlanta Hawks will still be able to deal with the Orlando Magic easily
More from Soaring Down South
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Grade the trade: Hawks deal Trae Young to Clippers in shocking proposal
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
With the fifth pick of the 2021 NBA draft, the Orlando Magic selected Jalen Suggs, the 6’4″ floor general out of Gonzaga is an incredibly unselfish player who makes everyone around him better. He is able to make the right call at the right time.
With the eighth pick, they selected the 6’9″ Franz Wagner who was originally slated to go in the mid-to-late first round. This pick was good for the Magic as they have so little depth at the power forward position. He can grow with the rest of the team but is going to take more time than Suggs to make an impact.
So, how will these picks impact the season series between the Hawks and the Magic next season? Will it help them reverse the results from this season where they lost all three games? The answer to these questions is that it is unlikely that these picks will help push the Magic past the Hawks.
Next. The impact of Kris Dunn exercising his player option. dark
The Hawks are simply too strong and have the defensive talent to contain Suggs at the professional level. This is particularly due to the Magic not having the experienced quality players to surround these picks to make like any more difficult for the Hawks this season.