The Hawks own an incredibly valuable pick in the 2026 NBA Draft – of course, I'm referencing the better of the Milwaukee Bucks' and New Orleans Pelicans' first-round picks, the gift that just keeps giving for Atlanta.
This pick has been the apple of all Atlanta fans' eyes this year, as the on-court play for the Hawks has steered the franchise abruptly in the direction of the future, rather than contending for the present.
As an absolutely stunning 2026 draft class loaded with talented freshmen continues to wow crowds and scouts alike, prospects once mocked in the 2nd round – or not at all – have shot far up the draft boards, entering the lottery and displacing some of the existing talents.
While some of these falling prospects are legitimately falling well short of expectations, others simply aren't getting as much opportunity this year. One such stud plays in the Australian NBL, where physicality is far greater a hurdle than in the NCAA, and has mysteriously plummeted from a top-10 to 45th overall on big boards.
Dash Daniels is the perfect fit for the Hawks in the 2nd round.
Dash Daniels' price is being driven into the ground by two critical factors
The younger Daniels drew significant interest from NBA draft experts prior to this season, ranking as high as 10th overall in an ESPN mock draft.
Unfortunately, Dash hasn't had much of an opportunity to prove himself to those who make the big boards, as playing only 14 minutes a night hasn't exactly added to his draft stock. This can largely be attributed to the Australian NBL being a far more physically challenging league than the NCAA, where 18-year-old freshmen can thrive competing against college students typically capped at 23 years old; the Australian NBL is far more daunting.
This lack of opportunity is a critical factor in driving Daniels from the lottery to the late second round, but there's one more piece that is likely scaring scouts away – his older brother.
Dyson's breakout campaign last year no doubt caused scouts to swoon over the next chapter in his lineage. Who wouldn't want the MIP's younger brother on their team, whose playstyle starkly resembles his own?
Unfortunately, Dyson has struggled mightily from range this season. So much so that the pendulum has swung the other way on Dash. If Dyson can't fix his shooting woes, how reliable is Dash's 38% metric from range this season?
Thanks to these factors, it would be all too easy for the Hawks to buy extremely low by take Daniels in the mid-2nd round in the 2026 NBA Draft. Dash would join Kobe Johnson, the younger brother of Atlanta star Jalen Johnson, as a high-level prospect with a family tie to the big-league squad.