2025 NBA Draft: High-Level Michigan State Guard Is Atlanta's Most Likely Pick At No. 13

The Atlanta Hawks' offseason has been underway since their play-in loss to the Miami Heat and two of the biggest dates when it comes to the NBA offseason is the draft lottery and the night of the draft. Both nights will be huge for the Hawks. The draft lottery is set to take place next Monday night.

The NBA settled the tiebreakers for various draft scenarios a couple of weeks ago and they worked out very well in the Atlanta Hawks' favor.

Atlanta will likely have two picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. They lost a coin flip to the Sacramento Kings, but that turned out in Atlanta's favor. The Hawks own the Kings pick if it falls outside the top 12 and Sacramento will only have a 3.8% chance to climb into the top four and a less than one percent chance to get the top pick. Anything can happen, but Atlanta is likely to get the pick, which would be huge for them and their roster.

The other good news for the Hawks is that the Lakers won a tiebreaker with the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, and the LA Clippers. Second, third, and fourth place in the tiebreaker drawings went to Indiana, the LA Clippers, and Denver. Atlanta got the Lakers pick in the deal that sent Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. The Hawks will own the No. 22 pick in the draft and unless the Kings jump into the top four of the lottery, they will have the No. 13 pick as well.

So who could the Hawks take in this draft, assuming that they keep both picks? If they do end up getting the pick from Sacramento, ESPN's Jeremy Woo says to watch out for Michigan State guard Jase Richardson as the likely pick:

"Richardson made a good case for himself this season as a solid complementary player with room to grow, displaying well-rounded ability at Michigan State and solid effort playing on and off the ball. That versatility makes sense with the Hawks' current personnel as a plug-and-play option, rotating in behind and alongside Trae Young and Dyson Daniels with the ability to balance lineups.

The Hawks should also be considering bigs at this spot to develop frontcourt depth, with names such as Joan Beringer and Noa Essengue (both international players) offering interesting upside."

This is not the first time that the Hawks have been linked with Richardson. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman had him mocked to the Hawks in early April:

14. Atlanta Hawks (via Sacramento)
Jase Richardson, PG/SG, Michigan State
Freshman | TS%: 63.2%

"Richardson turned the corner in a major way over the second half of the Spartans' season, finding another notch with his aggressiveness and productivity while shouldering greater offensive responsibility efficiently as a starter. His pace, skill level, feel for the game and shotmaking prowess give him an outstanding framework at 19 years old, especially with his defensive intensity.

A team such as the Hawks could be interested in Richardson's winning qualities and upside."

Richardson (6'3, 185 LBS) had a very good freshman season with the Spartans, averaging 12.1 PPG on 49% shooting from the field and 41% from three on 3.2 three-point attempts per game. If the Hawks elected to not bring back Caris LeVert, Richardson would be an interesting player to try and fill that void. He is not a pure point guard, averaging only 1.9 APG last season, but he could give the Hawks some scoring pop off the bench.

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