Kent Bazemore is remains an offseason “priority” to the Hawks despite the fact the team selected two wing players in the first round of Thursday’s NBA Draft.

Bazemore, the starting small forward last season, will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 after the completion of two-year deal he signed. Hawks officials have said they would like to re-sign Bazemore, who will be do a significant pay raise after his first season as a starter.

“I will say Kent Bazemore is absolutely a Hawks priority,” Hawks general manager Wes Wilcox said following the completion of the draft. “We love Kent. He is a huge part of what we do. I don’t think there should be any confusion as to how important Kent is to us.”

The Hawks acquired the draft rights to Baylor’s Taurean Prince with the No. 12 overall pick and selected St. Jospeh’s DeAndre Bembry with the No. 21 overall pick. Wilcox said the selections should not be considered an indicator that the team is preparing to move on from Bazemore. He stated the Hawks simple kept true to their philosophy to select the best player available.

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The Orlando Magic picked forward Caleb Houstan (left) in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2022 NBA draft. (Stephen M. Dowell/TNS 2022)

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