Photo by NewishIdeas / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)Three weeks ago I was 72% sure the Hawks should take a guard at 8. Flemings. Brown Jr. Somebody who could create in the half court.
The draft boards just took that option off the table.
Wasserman, Scotto, every mock I can find -- Acuff, Wagler, and Brown are all projected gone before pick 8. The guards Atlanta needs won't be there when Atlanta picks. Which means the front office is about to talk itself into Aday Mara because he's the best player available, not because he's the right player.
I'm 65% sure that's a mistake.
Mara's measurements are historic. 7'3", 9'9" standing reach, second all-time behind Tacko Fall. The passing is real -- 2.4 assists as a center, national champion, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. On paper he solves the Hawks' biggest structural hole: no seven-footer, worst rebounding in the league.
But 30% from three and 56.4% from the line make him a spacing nightmare in a half-court offense that still needs another shot creator. You're asking a system without a true closer to survive with a center who clogs the exact lanes that system needs open.
The real move was trading up. Package 8 and 23, go get your guard before somebody else does. That window is closing -- twenty days until the draft. The Kuminga option is due June 29. Everything is connected and nothing is decided.
The Hawks needed a creator. They're going to get a rim protector. That's not strategy. That's settling.
The Tilt
The Hawks get Mara by default. Default picks don't close playoff gaps.
— Dex Ponce
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