Atlanta United is in a strong position heading into Friday’s MLS SuperDraft in Los Angeles.
Club President Darren Eales said on Tuesday that the draft is deep, so his team should be able to find contributors with the Nos. 2 and 8 picks in the first round. Those are the only team’s only two slots after trading its pick in the second round.
“Third one I’ve come to and the death of the draft is always mentioned,” he said. “Each year, there’s always 8-10 players that make significant contributions.
“As far as our top 10 is concerned, there’s strength and depth in this draft. For us with 2 and 8 that’s all that matters.”
Holding those picks also gives Atlanta United strong bargaining position for trades.
If the team holds onto its second pick – Eales said they are listening to trade offers – one of the draft's consensus top three talents of forwards Jeremy Ebobisse of duke, Abu Danladi of UCLA and defender Miles Robinson of Syracuse should be available as long as club technical director Carlos Bocanegra and manager Gerardo Martino rate them as highly as most of the mock drafts have.
Eales said if Atlanta United holds onto both selections the strategy will be to take the best available players. The team is too thin with just 21 players signed – a few of whom will likely be assigned to a USL club to gain experience – with training camp scheduled to start in Bradenton, Fla. in less than two weeks .
“We want to have a squad that we will be happy with and be competitive,” Eales said.
Eales said there is no self-imposed deadline on when they will elect to either keep the selections or trade, though he said agreements are usually finalized the night before. There were 18 trades in the first two rounds of the 2016 draft, held in Baltimore
Eales said they will be pragmatic about the possibility of trading the picks for any combination that may help the team in the short- and long-term.
“What we won’t be is emotional,” he said. “We haven’t gotten the first pick. If you have the first pick, it’s a little bit harder to trade it away. If trading that No. 2 pick makes us a better team we will do it. We will have to be ruthless about it.”
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