Atlanta Hawks Draft: Surrounding Trae Young with the right talent at the NBA Draft

In the 2019 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks primary focus is to bring in scoring and size to compliment Trae Young as he heads into his sophomore campaign

The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery was a miss for many organizations, especially the New York Knicks, and amongst the other teams that were disappointed in the lottery results were the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta had a 10.5 percent chance at landing the top pick (fifth best odds) and was projected in mock drafts to select at No. 5 overall.

A pick in the top-5 of this year’s draft would’ve helped speed up the process in Atlanta, but the Hawks instead slid out of the lottery and fell to No. 8 and No. 10 overall (via a trade with the Dallas Mavericks).

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This past year the Hawks generated a lot of buzz and excitement in the city of Atlanta, and it had everything to do with the play of Rookie of the Year candidate Trae Young.

After a slow start last season for Young, he eventually began to find his footing in the league and ended his rookie campaign averaging 19.1 points per game and ranked 7th in the NBA in assists averaging 8.1 a game.

That said, the focus for the Hawks heading into the 2019 NBA draft is surrounding its Rookie of the Year.

Pick No. 8: Find a scorer

Only three other perimeter players, outside of Young, averaged double-digit scoring last season for the Hawks: Taurean Prince (13.5), Kent Bazemore (11.6) and Jeremy Lin (10.7).

It was no secret that the Hawks lacked offensive firepower last year, which makes Young’s 8.1 assists that much more impressive as it indicates he has a real gift for creating open opportunities for his teammates.

However, there’s an urgent need in Atlanta for a perimeter player who can take some of that pressure off Young.

With the #8 overall pick in the draft, the Hawks will likely have an opportunity to select either of these four prospects to partner alongside Young: Romeo Langford, Kevin Porter Jr., Keldon Johnson or Cam Reddish.

A backcourt of Young and Langford is the most intriguing combination of the four scenarios.

Langford is a 6-foot-6, 216-pound combo-guard that averaged 16.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in his freshman season at Indiana.

Despite low percentages from the field last year, Langford was a go-to player for Indiana’s head coach Archie Miller.

Langford’s body frame and style of play translate well into the NBA as he offers creativity with the ball and perimeter shooting – making him an intriguing prospect for Atlanta.

All four of these players have tremendous upside, but the reason they’ll likely be available at the 8th spot is because of the inconsistency concerns each of them have from the field.

With this pick, the Hawks need to acquire a scorer that has a “go-to player” attitude that can help Young put points on the board, both with and without the ball.

Pick #10: Jaxson Hayes

Another issue with the construction of last year’s team was the talent at the forward and center positions.

John Collins proved to be the forward of the future for Atlanta last season, but outside of Collins, there wasn’t a big that emerged as his long-term wingman – leading Atlanta to find that player in this year’s draft.

Fortunately for the Hawks, this pick is a simple choice: Jaxson Hayes.

Hayes pairs his 6-foot-11 height and 7-foot-4 wingspan with tremendous athleticism, making him a presence both offensively and defensively in the paint.

In his freshman season at Texas, Hayes shot 72.8 percent from the field and averaged 2.2 blocks per game.

The field goal percentage is somewhat misleading because a majority of his baskets came in the paint, but even then, it shows that he’s effective finishing at the rim.

Another strength of Hayes’ game is his free throw shooting. Last season he finished the year shooting 74 percent from the line.

At the next level, Hayes has shown he can contribute right away in the paint with his efficient scoring offensively and shot-blocking ability.

If the Hawks end up selecting Langford and Hayes, Atlanta could have a future Batman and Robin duo in both the backcourt and frontcourt.