Hawks GM Killed Trade for 19th Pick in 2018 NBA Draft to Get Kevin Huerter
The Atlanta Hawks can apparently thank NBA insiders for saving them a few draft picks during Thursday night's NBA draft.
During an interview Friday on 95.7 The Game's Joe, Lo & Dibs in San Francisco, Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk revealed the team planned to trade up to pick No. 17. However, news then emerged that the Milwaukee Bucks were going to take Donte DiVincenzo with the 17th pick, thus clearing the way for Atlanta to select Kevin Huerter:
"We had the 19th pick, and we're coming down and we're actually talking to Milwaukee on the 17th pick, talking about trading up to get a guy we like. There were a couple of guys we felt really good about on the 19th pick, obviously Kevin was one of them, and it leaked who Milwaukee was going to take. So, all of a sudden, we were able to pull back out of that deal and keep the draft pick instead of packaging picks to move up because we knew that, two guys on the board we felt really good about and only one team in between us, so that was beneficial to us last night."
Schlenk didn't elaborate what kind of offer was on the table with Milwaukee, but keeping as many picks as possible is important for a rebuilding team such as the Hawks. Even if they were highly protected first- or second-rounders, those picks are still opportunities to strike gold late in the draft down the line.
The Bucks, meanwhile, will rue the fact their preference for DiVincenzo got out before they could finalize their trade with Atlanta. Those picks potentially could've helped Milwaukee continue to build a contender around Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Huerter was the second of three first-round picks the Hawks made Thursday night. They added Omari Spellman with the 30th overall pick and traded the draft rights for No. 3 pick Luka Doncic to the Dallas Mavericks, landing No. 5 selection Trae Young in the process.
Huerter averaged 14.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and shot 41.7 percent on three-pointers as a sophomore for Maryland this past season. He underwent surgery on his right hand earlier this month but is expected to be healthy for the start of the 2018-19 season.
Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal gave the Hawks an A-minus grade for picking Huerter.
