After the Suns at No. 1, who are a near mortal lock to take Deandre Ayton, the consensus about the rest of the top 5 is that no one has any idea what will happen. The Kings are torn between Marvin Bagley III and Luka Doncic (and maybe Michael Porter Jr., but also maybe not). The Hawks either love or are completely out on Luka Doncic or Jaren Jackson Jr., depending on the day and the report. The Grizzlies want to trade the fourth pick along with Chandler Parsons to get out from under that deal. The Mavs want Doncic and might try to move up out of the fifth spot to get him.
So, yeah, it’s a lot. That makes for a fascinating draft night, but also a very stressful one for everyone invested in any of those teams. With all of that uncertainty comes a lot of trade rumors, because when a team isn’t in love with a prospect at their position, they will usually at the very least entertain phone calls from other teams.
Atlanta is in that position at No. 3 overall, and with it very likely Luka Doncic will be available, there are plenty of teams pushing to get into the third overall position. Whether the Hawks take a deal or not isn’t something we’ll know until they’re on the clock (because who is available will be the deciding factor in what packages are on the table), but what we do know is the phone will be ringing with many teams trying to make a deal happen, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.
Teams are exploring deals with the Hawks for the no. 3 pick with the hope of moving up to select Luka Doncic or Mo Bamba, per league sources. Hearing interested teams are the Bulls, Knicks, Magic, Clippers and Mavs. The Celtics are a dark horse. @ringer https://t.co/tORujMslNc
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) June 21, 2018
It would be pretty hilarious if the Celtics found a way to land the third pick for the third straight year, but that seems almost impossible unless they’re going to part ways with one of their young stars (not happening) or the Kings pick next year (more plausible, but still unlikely either side wants that). The other teams are slightly more interesting, but it’s all about what all is part of the package.
We know Atlanta would like to move Dennis Schröder this offseason, and if one of these teams is willing to take on his contract for shorter-term money in return (plus their first-rounder) it might get it done. Dallas, Orlando, and Chicago would allow Atlanta to slide back just a few spots, and if they have their eyes on Trae Young, for instance, that might make sense to land a future first or another asset from one of those teams even if they won’t take on Schröder.
The Clippers would have to put together 12 and 13 and something else to even have a chance, but they aren’t exactly flush with assets or contracts to match with Dennis — Gallinari/12/13 for Dennis/3 would technically work, but I’m not sure why Atlanta would want to do that. The Knicks have been an popular trade partner in imagined Schröder trades, and taking him on might be more palatable to them than taking on Chandler Parsons to get to No. 4, as was postured earlier on Wednesday.
All told, it’s going to get very weird on Thursday night and at this point, it seems like anything can happen after the first pick goes off the board.
