The Atlanta Hawks landed themselves in the lottery despite making the playoffs this season. Due to finishing in the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference they are slated to receive the 14th pick which sums up the Hawks last season.
They were good enough to make the playoffs, but were not able to make any impact, giong out in five games against the Miami Heat. Likewise, they are in the lottery but it is the last lottery pick. While this is frustrating for the franchise and fanbase, it is all about taking the opportunity given which is what the Hawks will do.
So far the Hawks have worked out two gaurds and four forwards in pre draft workouts. They have also been associated with Tari Eason previously so far this offseason. The joy of selecting in the middle of the first round is that you have to react to what has been taken before and select the best fit for your need from what is remaining.
The Atlanta Hawks are slated to pick Johnny Davis
According to B/R writer Jonathan Wasserman the 14th best prospest is Johnny Davis who is a sophomore shooting guard out of Wisconsin. Davis has displayed the ability to make his own shot and is a tough defender which all sounds good for the Hawks.
Davis averaged 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks in 34.2 minutes per game. He was efficient from the floor, going 42.7 percent but his numbers from deep were quite poor, going 30.6 percent from behind the 3-point line. These numbers are not ideal from a Hawks point of view.
However, the number of concern for the Hawks is that he had a usage percent of 32.5 which was 18th in the NCAA. So, what this equates to is a high usage guard who does not shoot the ball well from behind the 3-point line. That is not the type of player that the Hawks would be looking for given that Trae Young is a very high usage player.
If they did select Davis they would basically leave him in the G League to develop for next season. This is not going to help the Hawks in their quest to get back to a deep playoff run.