Atlanta Hawks: 5 options for pick No. 34 in 2018 NBA Draft

2. Hamidou Diallo

At this time in the draft, high-upside players with some issues are readily available. Sometimes they are players who battled injuries in college or didn’t live up to their expectations. Hamidou Diallo would fit into the latter group and makes for an excellent target early in the second round.

Diallo garnered a lot of attention last year during the draft process. He enrolled in Kentucky early, which made him eligible for the 2017 NBA Draft despite not playing a minute with the Wildcats. He was garnering attention late in the first round but decided to go back to college.

A year later, Diallo will be lucky to sneak into the first round. Diallo is extremely athletic, which will pique the interest of teams. However, he sometimes doesn’t take full advantage of the athletic gifts he has.

Diallo has all the tools to become a lockdown defender but was inconsistent on that end of the court with Kentucky. His offense was inconsistent as well. He is great when attacking the basket, but his jump shot needs work. His free throw percentage shows that he has work to do, as he made only 61.6 percent from the charity stripe and 33.8 percent from the 3-point line.

Diallo has immense potential. For a team in the rebuilding phase such as the Hawks, he would make for a great gamble in the second round. When you can add a player with first round tools in the second round, it is a worthwhile risk.