Should the Hawks Attempt to Acquire Another Pick to Select Bronny James In the 2024 NBA Draft?

While he is not going to go first in this year's NBA Draft, Bronny James, son of Los Angeles Lakers Forward LeBron James, might be the most intriguing player in this year's NBA Draft. There were split opinions about whether James should enter the draft, but he had a really strong showing at the NBA Combine and he was named one of the winners of the combine by CBS Sports Kyle Boone and others:

"James measuring at 6-1.5 to start the week put him in a hole out of the gate but he played his way back out of it and emerged as one of the biggest winners from Chicago. His max standing vert was 40.5 inches, which was tied for sixth best, and he finished second in the 3-point star shooting drill. His first scrimmage action was mostly forgettable but he brought it on the final day with a mix of defense, passing and shooting to draw some serious interest. He's no longer a draft prospect because of his father. He is a legitimate draft prospect based on the merits of what he did on the floor this week."

The debate now rages over whether or not Bronny will be a first-round round pick or if he will fall into the second round. While there has been a lot of focus on if LeBron wants to play with his son, that might not be their main focus. Drafting Bronny does not guarantee that LeBron will join your team next season, but the idea has to be intriguing to teams at least and might lead them to pick James higher than most expect him to go.

Should the Hawks be interested in acquiring another pick to dry and draft Bronny James?

The Hawks only have one pick in this year's draft and it is the No. 1 pick. There is zero chance that they take James with the No. 1 pick, but they could try to acquire another first or second-round pick via trade or they could try to buy a second-round pick. That has become a popular thing to do for teams and second round picks have become really valuable with the new CBA as Bryan Toporek at Forbes explains:

"Second-round picks should also become more valuable in the coming years thanks to the new CBA. Previously, teams had to dip into cap space or a salary-cap exception such as the mid-level exception to sign second-round picks to contracts. If they signed them using the minimum-player exception, they were limited to offering no more than two years.

The new CBA introduced a second-round pick exception that allows teams to sign second-rounders to three- or four-year deals without dipping into cap space or their MLE. Such contracts either must be two years with a third-year team option or three years with a fourth-year team option, and they pay slightly more than the minimum salary for players with no NBA experience.

The Sacramento Kings became the first team to use the second-round exception when they signed No. 34 overall pick Colby Jones to a four-year, $8.8 million contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Atlanta Hawks followed suit when they signed No. 39 overall pick Mouhamed Gueye to a four-year, $7.7 million deal, according to Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That figures to become increasingly common in recent years, particularly for early second-rounders.

Back in the early and mid-2010s, it was relatively common for teams to sell second-round picks to one another. For instance, the Chicago Bulls traded No. 38 pick Jordan Bell to the Golden State Warriors during the height of their dynasty in 2017 for $3.5 million in cash. Four years later, the Philadelphia 76ers sent $2 million in cash to the New Orleans Pelicans to acquire the No. 53 pick, per Charania."

If the Hawks want to acquire James, those are the routes they are going to have to take.

I think one thing to think about is how the Hawks have developed players at College Park this season and how that might help James improve. It seems that he is going to need some time in the G-League to hone his skills and it is hard to argue that a team develops players better at that level. Kobe Bufkin, Atlanta's first-round pick last year, made huge strides playing for the College Park Skyhawks last year and when he was brought up to play for the Hawks, he looked like he belonged, though he still has improvements to make. Atlanta's second-round pick from last season, Mouhamed Gueye, flashed his skills in the G-League as well. Hawks head coach Quin Snyder made sure to credit College Park as being a big part of Bufkin's development after one game this season:

"I thought he did a terrific job. He took shots when he was open, which is what we want. There were a couple of possessions where most importantly... it is hard to stay in front of those guys, they are quick. You know, he was down in his stance, moving his feet, he had his hands out and moving in space and doing the things that you need to do to be a defender in this league. To be thrown in the situation that he was thrown in tonight, he was ready and we talked about this before the game, I think a lot of this has to do with playing in the G-League. I have mentioned it before, he is watching tape and is not fortunate enough to fly on a private plane , he is in Grand Rapids looking to get the first commercial flight out the next morning and what that does is allow you time with your next coach and he has done a lot of film. A lot of what he does, he is not just down there hooping, he is getting better and being disciplined and it showed tonight and he really played well."

If the Hawks acquired another pick to take James, he would be headed to a spot that would be good for his development.

One way to acquire another first round pick would be to trade the No.1 pick or swap with Washington for No.2. If Atlanta feels the same about Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher, they could trade down to No. 2 and pick up the No. 26 pick later in the first round and try to take Bronny.

Bleacher Report's Dan Favale had two trade proposals where the Hawks do exactly that. One with the Wizards at No. 2 and one with the Spurs at No. 4. Let's look at the proposal with the Wizards:

The Trade

Atlanta Hawks Receive: No. 2 pick, No. 26 pick, Chicago's 2026 second-round pick

Why The Hawks Do It

"Because they know who the Wizards want, they don't want him, and they're looking to mine extra value out of the draft while still getting whomever they do want.

Picking up another late first-round pick and a second-rounder two years out to move down from No. 1 would be a non-starter in most years. This isn't most years, though. If the top of this draft genuinely lacks a consensus top prospect, the chance to secure another first-round pick on a cost-controlled rookie scale without torpedoing your own top-of-the-lottery interests would be a nice piece of business.

Accepting this offer would get harder if, say, Alex Sarr emerges as the clear-cut option.

Front offices with better track records and the job security that comes with them might move down anyway if they're more gaga over someone else. Hawks general manager Landry Fields doesn't exactly fall into this bucket. But again, for our purposes, we're taking the ambiguous and unflattering evaluations of this draft at face value.

Why The Wizards Do It

To get the No. 1 pick. Duh.

Coughing up another first-rounder to move up one spot in what might be an underwhelming draft and taking someone who may be available when you're on the clock anyway wouldn't be the most earth-shattering or sexiest play. So be it.

Washington wouldn't go into this attempting to stage a coup—a reverse Markelle Fultz-for-Jayson Tatum, if you will. It would make this trade because a late first-rounder and future second is a justifiable price to pay for determining your own fate.

If general manager Will Dawkins, team president Michael Winger and their scouting department believe there is a material difference between their top guy and everyone else, the chance to determine their own fate would go from luxury to potentially franchise-altering."

If James falls into the second round, the Hawks could look to buy a second-round pick from a team to try and acquire him.

I don;t know if it is likely, but if the Hawks did pick up an extra first-round pick or they buy a second-rounder, there is always a chance they draft James, even if it is not a move to try and get LeBron to play in Atlanta, which they would have to open up a ton of cap space to even do. He has some intriguing skills that could be developed in the G-League and Atlanta has shown the ability to do that.

Who knows, maybe LeBron does decide to take his talent to Atlanta.