Atlanta Hawks: 2018 NBA Draft grades

The Hawks trade No. 3

It didn’t take long for something big to happen on draft night. It wasn’t like last year where we saw big trades such as Jimmy Butler being moved to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the Hawks and the Dallas Mavericks didn’t shy away.

Here’s a look at the trade:

The Hawks took a huge gamble on trading away Doncic, who is a very special player and could be a once-in-a-lifetime talent. A lot of people wanted to see him as the first pick in this year’s draft, but surprisingly he fell to No. 3.

It seemed destined for the Hawks to make this right and draft a franchise player, but instead they saw fit to trade away the pick for the fifth pick and a 2019 future first-rounder. That No. 5 pick was announced to be Oklahoma star Trae Young.

Young is a great player, but passing up Doncic was a little disheartening to see.

Even fans around the NBA are disappointed the Hawks couldn’t get this pick right. It really shouldn’t have been that hard for them to see that Doncic could have changed their franchise.

Doncic was the EuroLeague MVP and is only 19 years old. He’s been playing against professionals ever since he was 15. It feels as if Young could be the next Buddy Hield — another player from Oklahoma who had really big stats and could shoot the ball, but ultimately never shined like many hoped for.

Would you rather have Doncic or Young? That’s not a hard decision. Next year’s draft class is thought to be a weak class and that makes the Mavericks’ lottery-protected pick even less desirable no matter where they land.

Grade: D