Atlanta Hawks Shopping No. 6 For Playoff Run

The Atlanta Hawks have been known as a team that is in no hurry to complete their rebuild. However, after team leaders and players expressed their strong desire to make the playoffs next season, Atlanta is altering its ambitions.

To do that, the Hawks are shopping their 6th overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft in order to add an immediate contributor who can help Young transform the Hawks from a lottery team to one that can compete for a playoff spot next season.

The Atlanta Hawks are shopping their first-round pick and intend to push for the playoffs, per @KevinOConnorNBA

Atlanta currently holds the 6th pick in the draft. pic.twitter.com/X0sRToElaq

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) October 27, 2020

Since current GM Travis Schlenk took over, the Hawks have made their moves in the second and third wave of free agent signings. Atlanta has been content to picking the bargains after the big name free agents are already signed. However, the Hawks want to be more aggressive this time around as the franchise acknowledges that they have to accelerate their rebuild with Trae Young’s emergence.

Trae Young Has Emerged

There was a time in Atlanta history when they regretted trading Luka Doncic for Trae Young. Of course, some can’t seem to get over it and you can’t blame them because no one will match Luka’s brilliance. But Young is also a very special player. He proved that last season.

Trae Young finished his 2nd season the NBA at 21 as follows:

29.6 PPG (4th in NBA)


9.3 APG (2nd in NBA)


31.4 PPG 9.9 APG at HOME


Started in the All-Star game


Helped raise $1 million for families battling medical debt in ATL

Hard work pays off


pic.twitter.com/3z9x9cXATM

— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) March 12, 2020

While Doncic won Rookie of the Year Honors in 2019, Young made the All-Rookie first team with him. When Luka was named to the Western Conference All-Star team, Young also earned All-Star honors in the East. The 22-year old from the University of Oklahoma averaged 29.6 points, 9.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game.

Trae had big games this past season as well. He put up a career high 50 points in a win against the 2020 NBA Finalists Miami Heat. Young also had a career-high 18 assist and 39 points in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

During that game against the Sixers, Young became the first player since Kobe Bryant to score 25 points and issue 10 assists in one half. He also passed Shaquille O’Neal for the most 40 point games during his first two NBA seasons. Shaq had 10 while Trae had 12 last season.

Big Cap Space

The main issue with the 2020 Draft is that it doesn’t have the can’t miss prospects that teams will die to trade for. In  fact, there are teams like the Warriors who pick higher than the Hawks and are also willing to trade down for the right package. But aside from the 6th overall pick, the Hawks have something that other teams don’t have.

The Most Cap Space In The 2020 Off-Season)

Atlanta Hawks: $49.3 M


New York Knicks: $49.21 M


Detroit Pistons: $37.46 M


Sacramento Kings: $30.98 M


New Orleans Pelicans: 29.41 M

If you’re a free agent, what team would you want to play for? pic.twitter.com/kuNx7BBQyf

— TheCoolestGuyInSports™ (@AKISNBA) October 20, 2020

Atlanta is projected to be the richest team during the upcoming free agency period. The Hawks will have an estimated cap space of $40-49M when the market opens. With that amount of a bank account, they can easily absorb a huge superstar contract that another NBA team wants to dispose of.

In the past, the Hawks have used their cap space to absorb unwanted contracts in order to gain high draft picks. That’s no longer the case. Atlanta won’t be accepting salary dumps to acquire future picks. Their focus is the present, not the future. The Hawks want veterans who can contribute and help them make the playoffs.

May Steal Playoff Spot

The Hawks are coming off a season where they missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year. This past season, Atlanta finished with the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 20-47 and they have not won more than 29 games in a season in the last three years.

As of the current betting odds at SportsBetting.ag, the Hawks share the 7th best odds to win the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Washington Wizards. Atlanta finished the 2019-20 season on a nice note. They were 5-6 in their last 11 games with wins over playoff teams Miami, Dallas, and Portland.

Atlanta has a nice core in Young, Collins,  De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish. They also added a solid big man in Clint Capela. If the Hawks are able to trade their 6th pick for a high quality player who can immediately contribute, then Atlanta has a pretty good unit that may be able to steal one of the last two playoff spots in the East.