Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks aren’t necessarily a team that springs to mind when thinking about franchises keen to make a draft day trade and shake up their team. They have plenty of talent and are always potent in the Eastern Conference.
Yet they can never surpass whatever team LeBron James is on, and after trading Jeff Teague for the 12th overall pick from the Utah Jazz and facing the possibility of Al Horford leaving in free agency, the possibility of some kind of rebuild seems to be increasing. They’re already armed with the 12th and 21st overall picks, which gives them the opportunity to add some significant rookie talent and move in a different direction with Dennis Schroder at point guard.
However, according to Chris Vivlamore of AJC, the Hawks are actively trying to trade their picks:
"The Hawks are looking actively looking into the possibility of trading one or both of the first-round picks, according people familiar with the situation. However, they very well could keep one or both… So, expect the Hawks’ basketball operations staff to be very busy today with more moves very possible before the night is over."
To work cap space for the Horford free agency situation or send their team in a direction, the Hawks have plenty to think about and plenty of options in the 2016 NBA Draft.
NBA teams I talk to are expecting Atlanta to target one of the many big men available at #12. Poeltl, Deyonta Davis, Sabonis being mentioned
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 22, 2016
As Vivlamore mentioned, they may keep one pick, and some reports have suggested that they’ll be holding onto the 12th pick to take one of the many coveted big men in this class. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress reported Domantas Sabonis as one possibility.
Whatever happens, whether the Hawks trade down from the 12th pick to acquire the kind of veteran player that could encourage Horford to stay or whether they trade both first rounders, there could be a lot of changes and their future on the line.
Next: Celtics are still pursuing their star