The Atlanta Hawks came into this year’s NBA Draft with six picks: No. 8 and No. 10 in the lottery, No. 17 (acquired recently as part of the Allen Crabbe/Taurean Prince trade), plus three second rounders (35, 41, 44). While the Hawks are a young team looking for players to develop on the Trae Young and John Collins timeline, they were never going to use all six of those picks for players they wanted.
So they have sold off two of those picks for cash.
First, the No. 44 pick to the Miami Heat, as reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources: Miami sent Atlanta $1.88M in cash for the No. 44 overall pick in the Draft, which could set the market for picks in that range. https://t.co/WZ0DirXZZw
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 20, 2019
Now the No. 41 has been traded to Golden State, as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and since confirmed by the team.
ESPN Sources: Golden State has acquired Atlanta’s No. 41 pick in tonight’s NBA Draft. The cost: $1.3M and a 2024 second-round pick. Atlanta moved No. 44 to Miami yesterday. Hawks have Nos. 8, 10, 17 and 35 tonight. Golden State has Nos. 28, 41 and 58.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2019
Players picked in the 41-44 range in recent drafts include Pat Connaughton, Tyler Dorsey, Damyean Dotson, and Bruce Brown. Some guys there never stick or make a roster, but sometimes teams can hit on a role player in that range.
Atlanta has been active trying to package a couple of their first-round picks to move up in the draft, something that could come together on a very active draft night. This is shaping up to be one of the most trade-heavy, chaotic drafts in years and Atlanta could be right in the middle of it.