The Biggest Mistake the Atlanta Hawks Must Avoid in the 2026 NBA Draft

The Atlanta Hawks, without a doubt, overachieved this season, given the various issues and trades that came their way. However, there is still a lot of room for growth despite them overachieving this season, and it could be in the upcoming NBA Draft.

While Atlanta has an opportunity to build on this momentum, they can still find themselves making a costly mistake that may take some time to recover from.

Recently, the Hawks have been reportedly open to making a potential trade in the draft, which would be for the second year in a row. One of the more interesting potential moves that has been buzzing for the past week has been Atlanta potentially going after Jaylen Brown in a multi-team trade, which would instantly put them back in contention in the Eastern Conference.

However, with this year's draft class being as talented as it is, there are still a lot of can't-miss prospects that Atlanta cannot afford to overlook.

Biggest Mistake to avoid

That mistake being missing out on a franchise point guard of the future, while also not grabbing a potential franchise big man.

During the NBA Playoffs, the Hawks dealt with major problems because they did not have a younger go-to playmaking scorer and another true center. In this year's draft, they have a chance to fix this issue and could make them an even stronger young team for years to come.

After moving on from franchise point guard Trae Young, Atlanta decided to get veteran guard CJ McCollum, who is more of a scorer than a playmaker. While McCollum did have some good scoring performances, he did begin to slow down as the season progressed, potentially due to his age at 34 years old.

Aside from scoring, McCollum didn't bring much when it came to playmaking, which is something that the Hawks need in this draft. In retrospect, Atlanta honestly benefited from some guys playing out of position, like McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Dyson Daniels, who played between the one and three positions.

In terms of the center position, Atlanta has been struggling to find a true answer for that spot outside of Onyeka Okongwu, who is often considered to be undersized and a bit limited in terms of his growth. The Hawks have the opportunity to fix this issue that has been plaguing them at the center position if they can go get one of the big men in the draft, specifically, Aday Mara.

Mara is a potential generational talent. He has the offensive and defensive skills to dominate at a near Hall of Fame level, with comparisons to NBA Hall of Fame center Marc Gasol. Along with the skill set, Mara has the size to be disruptive on defense, especially at the rim, which has been a problem for Atlanta this season.

If the Hawks were able to add Brown, who is already an NBA Champion and multi-time All-Star and All-NBA player, they would need a true point guard and center to close the deal on being a true threat. Without Brown, the Hawks would still be a solid young team while adding the missing pieces, but they would likely be another year or two away from completing this retool.

However, Atlanta must not pass up on Mara if I had to choose due to his ability to shore up a lot of the Hawks' post-defensive issues, as they can likely find a true point guard this summer or sometime down the road. To me, the Hawks have found success already with playing team-first style basketball and leading the NBA in assists with a franchise record 30.1 assists per game.

Adding another point guard would enhance things offensively, but adding a potential franchise center doesn't come along often.

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