IT WAS an extremely successful 2025 NBA Draft from the Atlanta Hawks, who not only snagged some pieces that will be crucial for the future, but also set themselves up for years to come with some clever trading.

The Hawks were already one of the busier teams coming into the intake in Chicago last week, acquiring NBA All-Star Kristaps Porzingis via trade as Atlanta looked to shore up its frontcourt stocks and make a charge into the postseason next season.

However, armed with pick 13, the Hawks made a tremendous deal with the New Orleans Pelicans on draft day, in what could be a move that sees them enter the top 10 of next year’s draft, regardless of how their own season pans out. Combining that with some of the impressive prospects they drafted makes them one of the big winners from the intake overall.

Atlanta Hawks

Drafted players

Asa Newell

The Hawks took just one pick into the draft, initially sitting inside the lottery after missing the playoffs once again despite Aussie Dyson Daniels taking the biggest leap of any player in the NBA and winning the Most Improve Player Award.

However, Atlanta changed its draft hand when it made a deal with the Pelicans, swapping its 13th overall pick for New Orleans’ 23rd selection as well as an unprotected first round pick for 2026 (the most favourable of the Pelicans and the Bucks), making the Hawks one of the best equipped teams for next year.

In such a deep draft class, the Hawks were more than happy to move back 10 spots, and with the Bucks missing Damian Lillard through injury for most of next year (as well as the rumours surrounding a potential Giannis Antetokounmpo exit) and the Pelicans not expected to contend either, that could be a top-five pick next year, which is huge for the Hawks.

With the 23rd pick, the Hawks acquired Newell for their frontcourt, with the forward/centre likely to be a central focus in the future with his ability to play multiple positions and likely combine well with the passing of Trae Young.

What makes this such an interesting pick is how much Newell’s skillset compliments Porzingis’ with both players doing what the other needs to improve, so there is enough there to suggest that they can both play in the same lineup in the next few years if the latter can stay healthy.

Newell is a bouncy, energetic post player who can thrive scoring the ball inside and is an excellent interior defender to match, while Porzingis is a sharpshooting big man who can punish the opposition and light up a match from long range. In the same lineup they should be able to slot in nicely next to each other and give the team a more balanced look next to the star power of Young and Daniels.

Although they picked up just one player at the 2025 NBA Draft, it was still a successful couple of days for the Hawks, who have grabbed an important piece for the structure of their team as well as giving their draft hand a serious boost.