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Atlanta Hawks: Grading The Offseason

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 22, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter (22) and Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) fight for a rebound during the first half at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter (22) and Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) fight for a rebound during the first half at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Atlanta Hawks
Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Kelly Oubre (Kansas) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number fifteen overall pick to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

The Draft

Thanks to the Joe Johnson trade back in 2012, the Hawks once again had the right to swap draft picks with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2015 NBA Draft. With Brooklyn slated to pick 15th and the Hawks owning the 29th overall selection, this was a no-brainer. Unfortunately for Atlanta, they weren’t able to make the most of their move up into the middle of the first round.

At first, the Hawks appeared to have made a high upside pick by taking Kansas’ Kelly Oubre Jr. at No. 15. But instead of keeping him and all that potential on the wing — knowing full well that Carroll could leave in free agency a few weeks later — the Hawks dealt Oubre to the Washington Wizards in a virtual three-team trade that nabbed them Tim Hardaway Jr. (via the New York Knicks) and two future second round picks.

I’m sorry, but an unproven Hardaway Jr. was nowhere near worth the upside that a top-15 pick like Kelly Oubre brought to the table.

Technically speaking, the Hawks got a potential replacement on the wing with Hardaway. The only problem is, that potential replacement is a defensive liability who is nowhere near as good a shooter or scorer as he’s been made out to be in his first two seasons in the league.

One can understand wanting a more prepared option to fill in for Carroll right away, but how they arrived at a gunner like Tim Hardaway Jr. is beyond comprehension.

Last year, Hardaway averaged 11.5 points per game on 38.9 percent shooting (34.2 percent from three-point range). He’s still only 23 years old, so perhaps with less usage he can be more effective in Atlanta. But by opting for a player who’s ready now, the Hawks passed on a prospect with far more upside on both ends of the floor.

With the 50th pick (Marcus Eriksson) and the 59th pick (Dimitrios Agravanis), the Hawks added two draft-and-stash products who won’t be coming stateside for awhile. Overall, the draft could’ve — and should’ve — gone so much better for Atlanta. This move actually might have made more sense if the Hawks had kept Carroll, since it’s such a win-now gamble.

Grade: D+

Next: The Tiago Trade

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