New Blockbuster Draft Day Trade Proposal Sees Hawks Slide Back Into Late First, Add New Power Forward

Could the Hawks take a step back in the 2025 NBA Draft if they got one of the Nets' best players to supplement their frontcourt?

Mar 16, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Cameron Johnson (2) is defended by Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (10) during the second half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Draft day is officially upon us and the Atlanta Hawks have several interesting options ahead of them.

They could still make a trade up if they leverage future draft capital or trade back if they want to pick up more capital and can get an established veteran in return. However, the blockbuster trade they made yesterday to get Kristaps Porzingis changes things significantly. According to multiple reports, the Hawks are acquiring Porzingis and a 2026 2nd round pick from the Celtics, Terance Mann and the No. 22 pick are going to Brooklyn, and the Celtics are getting Georges Niang and a 2031 2nd rounder from Atlanta.

At his best, Porzingis provides needed floor spacing, interior size, and versatility. Over the past year, Atlanta has wanted to get bigger around Trae Young and put a team that can cover for him defensively and take advantage of his size to succeed. Porzingis can play the four and Atlanta could have a big lineup of Young, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Porzingis, and Onyeka Okongwu. It is also possible to use Porzingis as a bench piece and insert him into the lineup as a backup center.

However, the loss of the 22nd overall pick is a major blow when considering Atlanta's odds of trading up. The 13th overall pick is just outside of the top 10, but there are still several intriguing options at that selection. Big men like Derik Queen, Joan Beringer and Danny Wolf could be in play while it's hard to rule out the possibility of the Hawks adding another wing like Cedric Coward or Collin Murray-Boyles.

Even so, I think the Hawks could be better served trading back and going down to the end of the first round while possibly picking up an established veteran. There are several teams that might want to come up from their selection, but one of the most interesting are the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set to make a whopping five first-round selections in the 2025 NBA Draft and seem primed to trade up for any selection at or past the third overall pick. One of those picks is the 22nd overall pick, which they acquired from Atlanta in the Porzingis trade. However, they also own #26 and #27, which could be part of a trade-up package if they include one of their veterans like Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton. In particular, Johnson would be an excellent fit for Atlanta and there's no guarentee they will be able to select a player as good as Johnson at #13.

Here is one possible framework that could help Brooklyn move up and allows Atlanta to add more frontcourt depth.

It should be noted that this is just a speculative and fun exercise to see what kind of moves can be made, not what I think the Hawks or any other teams should do or will do. That is all.

Atlanta Hawks Receive: 2025 1st round pick (via NYK, from BKN, #26), 2025 1st round pick (via HOU, from BKN, #27), Cam Johnson

Brooklyn Nets Receive: 2025 1st-round pick (via SAC, from ATL, #13)

Jan 1, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson (2) shoots the ball over Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick (1) in the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Why the Hawks would do this trade: Johnson averaged 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists on 47.5/39/89.3% shooting splits last season, just falling short of a 50-40-90 season. He's one of the best wing shooters in the NBA and also shot 71% at the rim last season, finishing in the 82nd percentile. Johnson also saw more opportunities to be a playmaker last season and took advantage by posting a career-best AST% of 17.8%, good for the 85th percentile among all wings. He can scale up to being a starter or scale down into being a bench piece while giving the Hawks tons of optionality on how to deploy Zaccharie Risacher and Jalen Johnson. He's not a standout defender, but he's very solid on that end and should give them more at that spot than Niang. Furthermore, Johnson is under contract for the next two seasons, giving the Hawks more certainty heading into this season. They also get two late firsts, which could be used to add a wing defender like Adou Thiero, Rasheer Fleming, or Drake Powell, and even preserves the possibility of adding a big like Stanford's Maxime Reynaud.

Why the Hawks would not do this deal: Johnson isn't very durable, and he's under a hefty contract for the next two seasons, which could be difficult for the Hawks to fit under the salary cap considering they need to work out a Dyson Daniels extension. The drop-off between #13 and two late firsts is also quite significant and there's no question the Hawks even get a player worthy of getting a second NBA contract in that range. The late range of the first round is especially weak this year due to many players opting to return to school.

Why the Nets would do this deal: This gives them four first-round picks at #8, #13, #19 and #22, which gives them an even better package for a trade up. Even if the Nets aren't able to trade up, three of their picks would be in the top-20 and could add significant talent to a roster that currently lacks it. Because Cam Johnson doesn't fit their timeline, cashing out on one of their best players from last season and improving their odds of being at the top of the lottery in 2026 makes sense.

Why the Nets would not do this deal: They may want to keep Johnson around to provide some veteran presence for their young roster and perhaps move him at the deadline for draft capital in 2026 or onwards. Adding more first-round picks in 2025, even if they are better picks, doesn't really help Brooklyn all that much right now.