Report: Anthony Edwards States That Being Picked By The Atlanta Hawks Would Be A "Dream". With The Hawks Having The Sixth Pick, Is It Possible For Travis Schlenk To Draft The Georgia Bulldogs Guard?
In an Interview with Taylor Brooks, Anthony Edwards states that being selected by Atlanta would be a “dream” for him due to Atlanta being his hometown. Here is the full in-depth interview with Taylor Brooks.
“That’s my home, so that’d be like a dream-come-true for me if I play for the Hawks,” Edwards told Bleacher Report.
“I’m real cool with (current Hawks players) Trae Young and Cam Reddish, so playing for the Hawks would be crazy.”
With the NBA draft lottery already announced, the Atlanta Hawks currently possess the sixth pick, which is problematic if they want to select the young Georgia guard. However, is Atlanta a good fit for Edwards, and if so, why?
The Atlanta Hawks are currently the 14th seed in the Eastern Conference while exhibiting one of the best young cores the NBA has to offer. From Trae Young to John Collins, Atlanta’s future is already very bright as they have two future all-stars and multiple young assets that they can either develop or trade away. The Hawks also have multiple draft picks for the future while having one of the best salary cap situations today. For many years, Atlanta will be one of the best organizations to play for in the NBA as they inhibit one of the best up incoming shooters in Trae Young. However, the Hawks have an opportunity to trade up in the draft and further their strengths next season by trading up to draft the young guard. The hawks have an abundance of young assets and draft picks, which entails that they could trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, another team that is currently building towards the future. Atlanta could trade Cam Reddish, and a couple of draft picks for the first pick or trade away DeAndre Hunter. However, with Anthony Edwards already hinting out his interests for the Hawks, let’s dive into why Edwards would be the final piece to the Hawks’s already complete puzzle!
Lack Of A Shooting Guard.
The Hawks currently have a small big three in Trae Young, John Collins, and Clint Capela. With all three of these players being under 26, this trio is already looking like one of the best trios in just a few seasons! These teams include the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and the Minnesota Timberwolves! Although teams like the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings are also very young and up incoming teams, they still have many holes to fill. For the Atlanta Hawks, however, this team has the opportunity to complete their future dynasty by drafting a defensive shooting guard who can stretch the floor while out-running his defender with ease.
At one point, Anthony Edwards was regarded as the favourite to go number one in this year’s draft. However, due to the emergence of over publicized Lamelo Ball and other players such as Obi Toppin, and Killian Hayes, Edwards stock value slightly dropped as there is no real unanimous first pick!. However, if Atlanta attains the first pick in this year’s NBA draft, their best option is to pursue Anthony Edwards due to how perfectly he would compliment Trae Young while also fitting in their timeline. Anthony averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.3 steals at Georgia University; these stats mean that Edwards is a walking bucket that can rebound the ball while guarding the best player on the team! One of the aspects that Atlanta lacks in their roster is a guard that can defend from the perimeter. With DeAndre Hunter also being one of the better perimeter defenders on the team, having another defender would merely relax Trae Young more on the offensive end!
Has The Size To Become One Of The Best Shooting Guards In The NBA.
Anthony Edwards currently stands at 6-5 and 225lb. With the shooting guard position arguably being the weakest in the NBA, Edwards can become a star in Atlanta if he chooses to get there. He excels in almost every aspect of the game except shooting three-pointers, but not every player starts as an elite shooter. An example of this is Kawhi Leonard. When Leonard got drafted, he was merely a defender and never a star player, but over time, he grew offensively with the right development team and, as a result, has been a consistent shooter in the last four seasons of his career! Edwards entering this draft is not viewed as a terrible shooter but is referred to as a player that shoots the ball below average. If Edwards can develop a Klay Thompson role with athleticism and better defence, Atlanta’s possibilities would be endless!
In the end, Anthony Edwards would be the ideal pick for this team but is very unlikely due to the Minnesota Timberwolves acquiring the first pick in the draft. With the Hawks being projected to get the fourth pick, having the sixth pick is quite unfortunate, but at least they’re not the New York Knicks, a team that can never win the lottery! If the Hawks fail to trade up, their next options at shooting guard are Killian Hayes, Tyrese Haliburton, and RJ Hampton, which aren’t terrible options. The Hawks may have lucked out in receiving a top-four pick this season, but their future is still one of the brightest in the NBA today.