The Hawks currently have the No. 21 overall selection in the first round of Thursday’s NBA Draft. I thought it would be fun to come up with what I think the Hawks draft board looks like with a break down by position of what players could be available to them upon their selection.
On Wednesday, I will narrow the list down to five players I think the Hawks could take in the first round.
There are a number of players who will clearly be gone by the time they pick. So here are my Top-15 players that will be out of reach, barring a trade, for the Hawks. I would say, if they are able to move up it would be for one of these players.
Top 15 (alphabetical order)
Dragan Bender, Croatia
Jaylen Brown, California
Marquese Chriss, Washington
Deyonta Davis, Michigan St.
Kris Dunn, Providence
Henry Ellenson, Marquette
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Brandon Ingram, Duke
Skal Labissiere, Kentucky
Timothe Luwawu, France
Jamal Murray, Kentucky
Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga
Ben Simmons, LSU
Jakob Poeltl, Utah
Denzel Valentine, Michigan St.
Available to the Hawks
Point guards
Wade Baldwin, Vanderbilt
An early-entry candidate, he was second-team All-SEC as a sophomore. He averaged 14.1 points and 5.2 assists in 33 games last season.
Demetrius Jackson, Notre Dame
He was named second-team All-ACC as a junior. He averaged 16.4 points and 4.6 assists in 37 games last season.
Dejounte Murray, Washington
An early-entry candidate after freshman season, he was second second-team All- Pac 12. He averaged 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 34 games last season.
Tyler Ulis, Kentucky
An early-entry candidate after his sophomore season, he was a finalist for John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy and Oscar Robertson Trophy, all awarded to the National Player of the Year. He won the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard.
Wings
Malik Beasley, Florida State
An early-entry candidate after his freshman season, he was named to All-ACC Freshman team. He averaged 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 34 games.
Furkan Korkmaz, Turkey
He played three seasons in the Turkish League. He averaged 6.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 20 games last season.
Jake Layman, Maryland
He scored over 1,400 points in four seasons. He averaged 11.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 36 games last season.
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse
An early-entry candidate after his freshman season, he was named to the All-ACC Freshman team. He averaged 13.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 37 games last season.
Bigs
Cheick Diallo, Kansas
An early-entry candidate after his freshman season. He averaged 3.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.9 points in 27 games last season.
Brice Johnson, North Carolina
He was a first-team All-America after his senior season. He averaged 17.0 points and 10.4 rebounds last season, the fifth Tar Heel in the past 39 years to average a double-double.
Damian Jones, Vanderbilt
An early-entry candidate after his junior season, he was a two-time first-team All-SEC selection. He averaged 13.9 points and 6.9 rebounds last season.
Thon Maker, Australia
An early-entry candidate, he spent the past two seasons at the Athlete Institute Academy in Ontario. He played in the Nike Hoop Summit Game last year.
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