The Hawks have have had talks with the Trail Blazers about moving up to acquire the No. 7 overall pick in next week’s NBA Draft, per Chris Kirchner of The Athletic.
Atlanta is expected to be one of this offseason’s most active teams, and Portland reportedly is more than open to moving out of the No. 7 spot in exchange for a veteran. The Hawks currently own the Nos. 16 and 44 selections.
From the sounds of things, Hawks head of basketball operations Travis Schlenk has made just about everyone but Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter available — and have been linked to the likes of Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Suns center Deandre Ayton and Bulls guard Zach LaVine. Ayton and LaVine are free agents and have also been mentioned as possibilities for the Blazers.
If the Hawks were able to move up in the draft, they could have their sights set on G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels, per Kirchner.
Daniels has touted himself as a good fit around just about anyone in pre-draft workouts, and his combination of size and playmaking could be a nice fit next to Young.
Meanwhile, Blazers GM Joe Cronin is in the process of trying to remake the roster around Damian Lillard. Theoretically, a veteran player would help them do that faster than a rookie via the draft.
The 2022 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 23. You can check out first mock draft of the summer at this link.
As we’ve already relayed, the Blazers, Pelicans and Kings are among the lottery teams reportedly considering trading down or out of the draft, with the Mavericks and Warriors open to doing the same later in the first round.
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