Trading The Eighth Overall Pick For A Veteran Would Be A Mistake For The Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks should do everything they can to hold onto their top-ten selection in a loaded draft class - or trade down for further assets.

Nov 22, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III (25) and forward Kevon Looney (55) guards Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) during the first half of the game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Anderson-Imagn Images | Daniel Anderson-Imagn Images

The NBA Draft is here and the Atlanta Hawks are right in the thick of the speculation surrounding it.

Per recent reporting, there's a lot of speculation about the Hawks trading the eighth overall pick for an established star-level player. There are a few possibilities for players they might be targeting, but per Bleacher Report insider Jonathan Wasserman, Atlanta is very active in these discussions.

Few hours before the draft, Atlanta Hawks a team that sounds pretty active in trade talks at #8, per multiple sources

— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) June 23, 2026

One of the most prominent names that has been discussed is Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III. ESPN insider Marc J. Spears reported that the Pelicans are taking calls on Murphy. This was followed up by a radio appearance on KNBR 680's "Murph & Markus" from NBA insider Sam Amick of the Athletic. Amick had this to say:

“There was even a scenario floating around with Trey going to the [Atlanta] Hawks in a deal that would include the [No. 8 overall] pick, which would be a risk because that would be the Pelicans on the backend trying to recoup their own pick by giving up pretty good assets to get it. I’m sure social media would be kind to that trade, potentially. So, that’s the Trey Murphy landscape.”

Therefore, it's clear that Trey Murphy can be had for the right price. There is also a non-zero chance that the Pelicans might be open to recouping their native first-round pick if the Hawks made it avaliable. As a reminder, the No. 8 selection was originally New Orleans', but they traded it when moving up to draft Derik Queen.

In my opinion, this would be the wrong move for the Hawks to make.

Murphy Is Not A Magic Solution

Dec 2, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III (25) goes to the rim after a foul against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Trey Murphy is a great player and it is very easy to see how he could make the Hawks better. He's coming off a season where he averaged 21.5 points. 5.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on 47/37/88.6 shooting splits. He's a great ball-handler and an elite shooter. At 6'9, players in his archetype don't come around that often.

Neither does a chance to add a cost-controlled guard with All-Star potential.

It seems pretty likely that one of Darius Acuff, Kingston Flemings, Mikel Brown Jr, Brayden Burries or Keaton Wagler will be avaliable for the Hawks to pick. I think Wagler, Acuff and Brown will likely be gone by the time the Hawks pick. However, that leaves two very interesting guard prospects in Flemings and Burries. While I would lean Burries, that doesn't mean Flemings is a bad pick at all. Both of these players starred as freshman, led the offense and had huge performances throughout the season. The Hawks will eventually need to search for an heir apparent to Trae Young in the backcourt and the guard class is the definitive strength of this class. It would be disappointing to see them not tap into that.

Again, Murphy is a great player, but there are limits to how much he can help Atlanta. He's not a great rebounder and he doesn't shoot well from midrange. He's also never been an elite-level playmaker or defender, turning himself into a passable to solid player on both accounts. However, it's an exorbitant price to demand a top-10 pick for a player who doesn't have top-10 skills in those vital areas.

Furthermore, president of basketball operations Onsi Saleh has discussed on multiple occassions how they want to build sustainably and not "rush the process". The Hawks haven't yet made the deep playoff run that shows they just need one more piece to push it over the top. It's not clear why Trey Murphy - or almost any other player they can realistically acquire - would be that piece.

This isn't to say that the Hawks are guarenteed to get a star with No. 8 overall. Yet, the path to sustainable success in the NBA has time and time again been proven to lie in the draft and improving the quality of depth rather than blowing all the chips on one singular move. The Knicks are an exception that proves the rule. Even still, they had to pull off one of the greatest free agent contracts of all time in order to make it happen.

Unless the Hawks recieve a relative haul of draft capital with major future capital added into the deal, they should be perfectly content with sticking at No. 8 and taking the possible point guard of the future.