The Atlanta Hawks have the sixth pick in the NBA Draft, and there are many different routes they can go with the pick. What should they do?
After finishing 20-47 last season, the Atlanta Hawks are looking to improve with the sixth pick in the draft and be a playoff contender in the near future.
They have their core five set with Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, and John Collins. They traded for Clint Capela at the trade deadline for better rim protection and rebounding.
They will have a large amount of cap space, which should help them fill in the missing pieces on their roster to help contend.
To add on to all of that, the Hawks will have the sixth pick in the NBA Draft. Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and James Wiseman have been the talk of this year’s draft, and after that who knows who will get picked next.
There are many routes that the Hawks could go with their pick, but what would be the best thing to do for this franchise?
The first option for the Hawks would be to keep the pick and draft a prospect that would benefit the team. The roster is still quite young, so adding a player to fit their timeline could make sense.
Like I stated earlier, after Edwards, Ball, and Wiseman, the draft is a toss-up.
That leaves one question: what do the Hawks need?
Well if anything, this team is in need of more defensive help. Reddish and Hunter are both two wings that have shown the ability to defend multiple positions, and it won’t hurt to keep adding at the position. Young has also shown deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball, so it can only help to have multiple defenders to surround him.
Issac Okoro is the first player that comes to mind. He may be the best defensive wing in the draft, and he’s efficient at getting to the rim. Adding Okoro to the Hawks would help improve their team on the side of the ball where they haven’t been the best in the previous two seasons.
If the Hawks don’t want to pick at sixth, they could decide to trade up or trade down depending on who they want.
Edwards would most likely be the target for the Hawks if they wanted to trade up. He’s a wing with a score first mentality, and the Hawks need another proven scorer next to Young. Edwards can take some of the pressure off of Young and become a secondary ball handler.
Trading down wouldn’t be a crazy decision either, especially if you’re able to still pick the guy you want later in the round.
The last and final option for the Hawks would be to trade the pick, but for a solidified star.
Playoffs are the goal for this team, and adding more young players will only set them back for what they want to do now. At this point, it only makes sense to add players who will make an immediate impact.
Just as it’s easy to say trade for a star, it’s hard to even think who that star could be.
The name that continues to come up in trade rumors is Washington Wizards star, Bradley Beal. Beal and Young would make a dangerous backcourt offensively, and a pair that you would not want to defend every night.
With Doc Rivers taking over as the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s not for certain if he’ll want to keep both Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid on the team. Either player would help the Hawks, but it would take a lot on the Hawks side to make that happen.
The NBA draft is not far away, which means the Atlanta Hawks don’t have long to make a decision, especially if they’re considering all of these options.