Who Will the Atlanta Hawks Pick at #3 Overall?

By Matthew Adams

The Atlanta Hawks have the 3rd, 19th, 30th, and 34th picks in the upcoming 2018 NBA draft. With all of those picks, Atlanta has a multitude of options in this year’s draft. Assuming that DeAndre Ayton and Luka Doncic are the first two players drafted, the Hawks should snag a big man with their top pick. There will be solid options available at #3 overall with Marvin Bagley, Mo Bamba, and Jaren Jackson Jr. likely to fall outside the top two selections.

 

I feel like the Hawks should take a big man not only because they desperately need one, but also because fantastic ones like the three listed above tend to be few and far between. I really feel that Mo Bamba, a 20-year-old with a 7'10 wingspan, is the best fit for Atlanta considering they could greatly benefit from having a traditional center. Bagley and Jackson Jr. played the power forward position in college, and I think it will be harder for them to transition to playing center in today's NBA. After their first pick, I think that it would be in the Hawks' best interests to trade up to gain another top 10 pick to select Trae Young, a guard out of Oklahoma who averaged 27.4 points per game and 8.7 assists per game in his freshman year. I would suggest a trade packaging the Hawks other first round picks and a player such as Kent Bazemore or Dennis Schroder. If they are not able to pull off a trade then another player I like who may be available later in the draft is two-time national champion Donte DiVincenzo out of Villanova. Players like Young and DiVincenzo are appealing to me because they are similar in some ways to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors. With Hawks GM Travis Schlenk being a former assistant GM with the Warriors, he may be looking to build a similar type of roster.

 

The 2018 NBA draft will be a crucial point on the timeline of the Atlanta Hawks rebuild. Atlanta will have a chance to add talent to a depleted roster and find the elusive superstar they have been chasing for years. The moves they make on June 21st will decide the course of the franchise for years to come, and the 2018 NBA draft will be one of the most important drafts in the franchise's history.