The Hawks acquired the worst of the Milwaukee Bucks' and New Orleans Pelicans' 2027 first-round picks back in 2024, with the exodus of Dejounte Murray from Atlanta.
Being the worst of the two teams' picks, it wasn't expected to amount to much at the time - New Orleans appeared to be throwing together a collection of All-Star talents in Trey Murphy, Zion Williamson and Dejounte Murray, while Milwaukee was still basking in the afterglow of their 2021 NBA Title.
Since then, Atlanta's acquired pick has risen exponentially in value - both the Bucks and Pelicans have undergone a disastrous offseason (at least, for their standings next season). Buckle up, Hawks fans: it's going to be a wild ride to the top of the lottery once again.
Milwaukee's inevitable offseason finally arrived
The Bucks finally traded Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer - rather than being a huge pop of a headline like the Doncic deal or similar MVP-caliber talents being traded in their prime, when Shams broke the news, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off the chest of NBA fans around the world, simply eager to move on from a drawn out saga of false narratives and rumors.
Coverage aside, the Giannis deal heralds in a new era for Milwaukee. They received a haul of young talent including Kasparas Jakucionis, Nate Ament, Kel'el Ware, draft picks, and even the All-Star talent in Tyler Herro (who very well could be on the move for another haul of picks this February or sooner).
The Bucks will almost certainly flounder their way to another bottom-conference finish in the East without their MVP, and they'll likely be perfectly content with this - after all, they own the better of this pick and the Pels' pick.
New Orleans' nothing-burger offseason is laughable for Hawks
The Pels' summer has been the exact opposite of the happenings in Milwaukee.
While the Bucks completely pivoted to a new direction - and commendably so, the clock was ticking for Milwaukee to move on from the Giannis era before his return shriveled - the Pelicans continue to do... absolutely nothing.
One would assume that a squad boasting a thoroughly unimpressive 26-56 record from the season prior would be chomping at the bit to shake things up, and get a fresh wave of talent ready for the new campaign. Instead, Dumars' front office has opted for the exact opposite approach - run it back with the exact same roster.
Webster's dictionary may not directly define insanity in the following manner, but it's become a common homonym nevertheless: "doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result."
By this alternate definition, Joe Dumars' front office in New Orleans is exhibiting signs of insanity.
Beyond not owning their own 2026 NBA Draft pick by grace of the Hawks stealing it last year in the Queen-Newell-Flemings deal, the Pels have also failed to trade any of their depreciating assets: Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, or Zion Williamson.
Additionally, the Pels seem to have a misunderstanding of the NBA's CBA - their extension of DeAndre Jordan to a veteran minimum 2-year deal could have saved the organization up to $3M in exceptions, had the deal been a 1+1 rather than outright 2-year extension. Instead, Dumars threw the money away.
Thanks to the Bucks pivoting off of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Pelicans floundering with no clear sense of direction, a pick previously anticipated to land somewhere in the late lottery to mid-20s of the 2027 NBA Draft may very well be a top-10 asset.
All signs point to another fun year of contending and very realistically monitoring top draft talent, Hawks fans!
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