2023 NBA Draft Team Recap: Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks' one notable move this offseason outside of the 2023 NBA Draft was trading away forward John Collins in what was essentially a salary dump. It is at least worth noting that the move did net the Hawks a second-round pick and trade exception worth more than $20 million.
With no key additions via trade or free agency, it was the draft that GM Landry Fields relied on to add talent to the roster. First up was adding a silky smooth guard out of the University of Michigan with their first selection after the lottery.
Kobe Bufkin is a a 6-foot-4 combo guard that may have seen the highest rise of anyone during the 2023 NBA Draft process. He was a sophomore last season but is still just 19-years-old and had a breakout campaign in Ann Arbor.
While you may be hard pressed to pinpoint his elite NBA skill, you will also struggle to find many negatives.
The Michigan native averaged 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks per contest. He also got his buckets in a pretty efficient fashion that resulted in shooting splits of 48-36-85. He should provide value on both ends of the court.
Offensively, he has the versatility to play on or off the ball. Although, the 14% clip from behind the 3-point line in summer league may have some concerned about his floor spacing.
Defensively, he showed his playmaking with those two stocks per game in college and was one of the better all around perimeter defenders in the 2023 NBA Draft class.
As the youngster grows into his body - adding strength and weight - he will be able to provide the highly valued versatility on this end of the court as well. While the early path to minutes for Bufkin may be tough to come by in a crowded Hawks backcourt, he is a nice young guard to have in case the team does ever decide to move on from Trae Young or Dejounte Murray.
The second pick in the draft for the Hawks was a big man out of Washington State, Mouhamed Gueye. He is a skilled big man who put up 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in his sophomore season.
While Gueye is an intriguing prospect the path to minutes is also crowded for him. Minutes at the five will mostly be eaten up by Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu and while the team definitely sees his ability to play the four, there is competition there as well from the likes of Jalen Johnson, Saddiq Bey and De’Andre Hunter.
Of course, Bey and Hunter can both see plenty of minutes at the three which then could open some time up for Gueye, who was signed to a standard NBA contract which highlights how the team feels about him.
The final selection of the night for the Hawks was a sharp shooting wing out of Penn State. The 6-foot-6 Seth Lundy shot 40% form beyond the 3-point line in his senior year on 6.4 attempts per game and was a career 37% 3-point shooter on over five attempts per game.
Lundy will play on a two-way contract this season, and looking at the current roster construction will seemingly see most of his minutes in his rookie year with the College Park Skyhawks.
While this roster may not be one that offers a lot of opportunities to a rookie class of three the infusion of young, promising talent was still a good move by the front office entering a season where change could eventually be on the horizon that does open up playing time.
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