The Hawks have fielded calls on potential trades for the No. 1 overall pick, but as Landry Fields told members of the media, the club is perfectly content standing pat and making the pick.
One particular scenario that has been discussed among teams is the Hawks doing a deal with the Spurs to reacquire their 2025 first-round pick in a trade down to San Antonio’s No. 4 pick.
“One option that has been widely discussed among teams is the possibility of the Hawks reacquiring their unprotected 2025 first-round pick from San Antonio (perhaps in a swap for the No. 4 pick), which would give the team far more flexibility for rebuilding,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony wrote.
Some pundits have floated the idea of the Hawks trading Trae Young and Dejounte Murray to completely reset, and it’s an attractive proposition in some sense, but there’s no reason to even consider that avenue if you’re Atlanta because they don’t own their draft picks.
The Spurs own the Hawks’ first-round picks in 2025 and 2027, along with the rights to swap in 2026. If Atlanta were to hit the rebuild button and not reacquire those first-round picks, it would be franchise suicide. They won’t do it.
However, a scenario where the Hawks love a particular prospect like Donovan Clingan or Reed Sheppard could entice them to trade down and recoup some of that lost draft capital while still landing their guy in the draft.
As of right now, it seems the UConn star is the Hawks’ top prospect on their big board, but a lot can change in a week. All options should be on the table for the Hawks.
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Photographer: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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