Ranking 7 scenarios in play for Atlanta Hawks with No. 1 overall pick in NBA Draft

Option #5: Trade further back (picks 3-6) to select Donovan Clingan

If the Atlanta Hawks feel that pick 1 or 2 would be too high for Clingan, they could elect to trade back to picks 3-6 and pick him there. Trading further back would open the door for the Hawks to add future draft picks (such as getting their 2025 1st-rounder back from the Spurs in a potential trade back to pick No. 4).

The teams currently slotted to pick 3-6 are:
3. Rockets
4. Spurs (as previously discussed)
5. PIstons
6. Hornets

If the Hawks have their eyes on Clingan though, the concern would be what if Atlanta trades back, but then someone picks Clingan before the Hawks come back around. That would be the risk here, even though adding an extra pick or two would be huge for a Hawks team that traded multiple-rounders to the Spurs for Dejounte Murray two years ago.

The Rockets seem close to being a top 6 team in the West after a 41-41 season with a young roster, so their exact plans with the No. 3 pick are intriguing.

Detroit and Charlotte both seem to be in similar positions. They both have young talent (Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren, and Jaden Ivey in Detroit and then Brandon Miler and LaMelo Ball in Charlotte), yet it just has not worked up to this point. This might lead either team to be desperate enough to want to jump up to No. 1 to land who they feel would be a franchise-level player. (I should give Charlotte a bit more of a pass here since Miller was just a rookie this past season).

The issue with trading all the way back to 5 or 6 would be that it is a major risk to move that far back if Clingan is your target, as I am not sure he will be there. However, if the Hawks want to get all of the capital of moving back that far, they could have their eyes on someone else.