The Atlanta Hawks have a pair of incoming first-round picks in the 2025 NBA draft, or at least they should.
That would be a boon considering they owe their own first to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Hawks own the rights to the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round pick in the upcoming draft outright. They also own the rights to the Sacramento Kings pick, which is protected if it lands in the top 12 in June.
However, the Lakers and Kings are devaluing those picks, the latter of which has an expiration date on it, and the Hawks should explore their trade options because of it.
The Hawks got the Lakers’ pick from the New Orleans Pelicans in the Dejounte Murray trade.
It helped offset the one owed to the Spurs from the trade to acquire the former steals champion in 2022. Many viewed that pick as the potential diamond of the deal. Since then, Dyson Daniels has proven quite valuable.
Still, the preseason projections for the Lakers called for a falloff that has not happened, at least not yet, and may not come following their unexpected trade for Dorian Finney-Smith.
Hawks likely to feel ramifications of Lakers trade
The Lakers sent D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Finney-Smith and Shake Milton on Sunday. LA currently has the 11th-best record in the NBA at 18-13, tying them with the Clippers.
LA’s outgoing picks are their own in 2027, 2030, and 2031, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, who first reported the trade on December 29.
BREAKING: The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed on a trade sending D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, sources told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/V175zGtmKW
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 29, 2024
Their incoming pick is projected to land at No. 22 overall.
That can and will change many times over before the end of the regular season. But it has not moved in the right direction for the Hawks in recent weeks. The Lakers have won two straight games and six of their last eight.
Adding Finney-Smith to the mix is unlikely to be a championship-winning move. But the Lakers may not be done either.
They still have future first-round picks to anchor a splashier deal.
The Hawks’ best hope may very well be to just ride it out with the pick and let it fall wherever it may. But they can be proactive while the allure of the pick still has legs, which will start to change as we get closer to the trade deadline.
Then there are the Kings, who have already fired their head coach, are on a six-game losing streak, and have seen trade rumors pop up around star guard De’Aaron Fox.
If the Hawks do not get the Kings’ pick in this coming draft, it rolls over with lighter protections.
The pick would only be protected for the top 10 of the draft. However, there is no guarantee the Kings will not have started a full-on rebuild by then. And if the Hawks do not get it in 2026, it turns into a pair of second-rounders (2026 and 2027).
The trade deadline is not until February 6. But the season is moving rapidly and the value of the Hawks’ incoming draft assets appears to be falling even faster.