2025 NBA Re-Draft Shows How Promising Hawks Rookie Has Been Early In His Career

Would the Hawks take Asa Newell again in a re-draft?

Feb 5, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Asa Newell (14) shoots against the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

We are over halfway into this NBA season and so far this season, this rookie class has more than lived up to the hype.

Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and VJ Edgecomb are just some of the names who are having very good rookie seasons and look like future All-NBA players.

So how would a re-draft go and in particular, how would it go for the Hawks? If you remember, the Hawks came into draft night with the No. 13 overall pick and then moved back to No. 23 in exchange for the Pelicans unprotected 2026 first round pick that is the more favorable of New Orleans and Milwaukee. The Hawks took Georgia forward Asa Newell with the No. 23 pick and in a recent re-draft from Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley, they do that again:

Original Pick: Asa Newell

Asa Newell's Original Draft Position: No. 23

"Honestly, something would feel wrong about sending Newell anywhere other than his hometown team.

The Hawks haven't called his number a ton, but the early returns have been generally promising. He's averaging 16.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.3 stocks (steals plus blocks) and 2.2 three-pointers per 36 minutes while shooting 54.1 percent from the field and 40.3 percent from deep."

Strong rookie season

Feb 5, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Asa Newell (14) dunks against the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

While he is not playing a huge role on this team, Newell has played well when given the opportunity. The most encouraging part about the way that Newell is playing right now is how he is shooting the ball, which was perceived to be his biggest weakness coming into the draft.

Newell appeared in 33 games (all starts) in his lone collegiate season at Georgia, averaging 15.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block in 29.0 minutes (.543 FG%, .748 FT%). He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors four times during the 2024-25 campaign, matching Anthony Edwards’ program record set in 2019-20.

The first freshman to lead Georgia in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg) since Jumaine Jones in 1997-98, Newell secured seven double-doubles this past season, tied for the fourth-most in the nation amongst all freshmen. He registered a 21-point, 17-rebound double-double on March 12 against Oklahoma, the most rebounds by a Bulldog since Toumani Camara’s 17 boards against Montana in Dec. 2020.

In his collegiate debut against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 4, the 6-9 forward poured in 26 points on 13-22 shooting from the field, in addition to 11 rebounds, one steal and three blocks in 32 minutes of play. His 26 points are tied with Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Famer and Atlanta Hawks legend, Dominique Wilkins, for the highest offensive output by a Bulldog freshmen in their debut.

There is still a lot to transpire over the rest of this season and in the future, but Newell has gotten off to a pretty solid start in his NBA career.