Luka Doncic is gathering momentum with Hawks
The question of where Luka Doncic would land on draft night may be answered before Thursday night, as the Hawks are said to be very interested in taking him at No. 3.
The Atlanta Hawks enter the 2018 NBA Draft with a number of holes to fill. Outside of second-year big man John Collins, there doesn’t seem to be another building block on the roster. Travis Schlenk and company may be coming to the conclusion that Luka Doncic is the right player to build their team around for years to come.
Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Atlanta’s front office is starting to come around to the idea of selecting Doncic. They still are actively considering Jaren Jackson, Jr. and Marvin Bagley, but the Real Madrid star is starting to surge ahead of them in the minds of most Hawks executives.
This news could hit the Dallas Mavericks particularly hard. Mark Cuban’s team has been hoping that Doncic would fall to them at No. 5. News that the Hawks are ready to pick him at No. 3 is going to make it very difficult for them to acquire him. Essentially, the Mavericks would have to swing a deal with Sacramento at No. 2 to steal Doncic away from Atlanta.
Luka Doncic has moved to forefront of Atlanta's internal conversation on the third overall pick in Thursday's NBA Draft, league sources tell ESPN. Michigan State's Jaren Jackson and Duke's Marvin Bagley (if Kings pass on Bagley at No. 2) remain in contention for No. 3.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2018
Of course, at this point in the pre-draft process, it’s fair to wonder whether or not this is a smokescreen from the Hawks. There’s no better way for them to drive up the price for Dallas to move up than by expressing their own interest in Doncic. It shouldn’t shock anyone if the Mavericks end up making a deal with the Hawks to move up and take the Slovenian star.
It Atlanta’s interest is genuine, it’s going to cause serious ripples well down the draft board. Both Dallas and Memphis could be presented with draft options they didn’t anticipate just a few days ago. Specifically, neither team believed Jaren Jackson Jr. would be a viable option previously. Either talented big man could be of interest to either Western Conference team.
Next: Mavericks have to move up if they want Doncic
At the very least, keep an eye on Atlanta as draft night approaches. Their public interest in Doncic is going to be perceived as a major curveball by quite a few teams.