NBA Draft Rumors: Bradley Beal Sought After By....Atlanta?

Per Andy Katz of ESPN.com, buried in a story where a more interesting national team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and their GM Sam Presti's stalker-like pursuit of the soon-to-be-former Gator Bradley Beal makes the headlines, comes this tidbit of information that should make Atlanta Hawks fans wonder who is running the team and where have they been since 1968 (emphasis mine).

San Antonio, which doesn't pick until No. 59 in the second round, as well as Atlanta, which does have a first-round pick at No. 23, also made a number of calls to Donovan and Florida in the hope that each team could move up to land Beal.

But the source said the teams told Donovan it would have to be the "parting of the red sea," to pull off a move to get up to the top of three in the draft.

"They gave (Donovan) the impression that they were trying to move up to get Brad," said the source.

Incredible.

After years of begging upper management for creative thinking such as this, we see the Atlanta Hawks, our Atlanta Hawks, thinking outside the box to go get what they believe to be a special player.

Sorry, but I am going to have to get a cold beverage to sort this out.

In my opinion, Beal is the second best player in this draft. As a well-known Gator alum, I watch the heck out of Florida, and the team only came to be special team when Brad Beal began to assert himself on the game.

The Gators had Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker (that's my cousin!) back there -- and they were coming off an Elite Eight run of their own, so Beal's tendency was to ease into his role on the team and therefore, seemed to be out of place at times.

But when Donovan told Beal before the SEC tourney to take over, man he did. He played his best ball in the "post-season" and showed he can shoot, rebound and handle the rock in any circumstances. He's a special dude whose game will translate well in the league.

Exit Question: What would it take to get him? Well, as the quote suggests -- a parting of the seas, but Charlotte holds #2 and is willing to deal, so gentlemen (and ladies), start your fake trade engines and see what you can do!