NBA Draft: Atlanta Hawks could make No. 10 pick available in trade

With a pair of top-10 picks to deploy in the 2019 NBA Draft, few teams are as interesting to monitor as the Atlanta Hawks between now and June 20. Rumors are already flying that Travis Schlenk and the front office could be angling to move up the board by packaging their lottery selections together and, on Tuesday morning, Jonathan Givony of ESPN shed light on the potential that Atlanta could be open for business at No. 10 overall, even if the desire is not to trade up.

A number of agents with players projected to be picked in the lottery told ESPN that they’ve had conversations with teams who say they are capable of making a trade for Atlanta’s No. 10 pick if needed, indicating that pick might be involved in trade conversations as well.

With more than two weeks until draft day, specifics are sometimes difficult to parse and, in this case, there isn’t much to grab hold of when attempting to evaluate this rumor. Schlenk has been open about the team’s aversion to bringing five rookies to training camp and, as such, the Hawks could be more active than a typical team with a quintet of selections.

That could mean a number of things for the No. 10 pick, from a deal to move down in search of additional assets (both future and present) to a swap that could involve players already in the NBA. For now, the rumblings simply place the Hawks in the middle of varying discussions (headlined by a potential pursuit of a higher pick), opening up the draft board in a significant way.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available, and catch up on our NBA Draft scouting report series here.