NBA Draft Results: Atlanta Hawks select Adreian Payne No. 15 overall

The Atlanta Hawks are notoriously quiet when it comes to dispensing information, and in the Twitter age, that is a unique situation when it comes to the NBA Draft process. With that said, seemingly no one had any real insight into Atlanta’s thought process with regard to the 15th overall pick, but in the end, the Hawks have selected former Michigan State power forward Adreian Payne with their first round selection.

The 6-foot-10 forward was a four-year player with the Spartans, and as a result, he is one of the older players in the draft at age 23. Still, if that is the greatest knock on his draft prospects, it is probably a good thing, and the versatile forward has a varied offensive game to go along with the ability to protect the rim with very solid length that includes a 7-foot-4 wingspan.

In college, Adreian Payne was able to knock down more than 42% of his three-point attempts, and in Atlanta’s offense under the direction of Mike Budenholzer, that skill will be utilized a great deal. It will be interesting to see what kind of playing time that he can corral as a rookie, but with incumbent backup power forward Mike Scott facing free agency, there could be an immediate role for Adreian Payne in Atlanta.

The Hawks will likely catch some flack for passing on guys like Gary Harris and James Young that possess higher “upside”, but Payne is a great fit on that roster, and Danny Ferry appears to have hit a home run.