What the Atlanta Hawks Draft Picks Mean For Free Agency

The 2026 NBA Draft is in the books.

The Atlanta Hawks had been described as a team that was open for business and looking to make trades, but Atlanta entered the draft with three picks, and they ended up making three picks.

During the first round, Atlanta selected Houston point guard Kingston Flemings with the No. 8 overall pick, they selected Saint John's big man Zuby Ejiofor with the No. 23 pick, and last night, they traded up from the No. 57 pick to No. 52 to select North Carolina center Henri Veesaar. It was a busy couple of days for the Hawks, but they are far from done this offseason as they continue to build a contender in the Eastern Conference.

So how could these draft picks impact what the Hawks are going to do in free agency?

Hawks free agent plans

Jock Landale Atlanta Hawk — Mar 14, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Jock Landale (31) shoots against the Milwaukee Bucks in the third quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Let's take a look at the Hawks guaranteed contracts now that the draft is over (I am going to assume Veesaar is going to be on a guranteed contract unless otherwise reported):

1. Jalen Johnson- $30,000,000
2. Dyson Daniels- $25,000,000
3. CJ McCollum- $21,000,000
4. Onyeka Okongwu-$16,100,000
5. Nickeil Alexander-Walker- $14,403,710
6. Corey Kispert- $13,975,000
7. Zaccharie Risacher- $13,826,040
8. Aaron Wiggins- $9,028,038
9. Asa Newell- $3,399,480
10. Kingston Flemings-
11. Zuby Ejiofor-
12. Henri Veesaar-

There are some other transactions that are going to impact the Hawks plans as well.

The Hawks have to decide by the end of today if they are going to guarantee Buddy Hield's contract or waive him and save money. Jonathan Kuminga ($24.3 million) and Mouhamed Gueye ($2.4 million) have team options that either have to be picked up or declined by Monday.

I think the draft pick that is going to have the most impact on free agency is Flemings.

With McCollum back and Flemings now drafted, the Hawks have their starting lead guard back as well as a young player who they hope becomes their point guard of the future. While you can never have too much ball-handling, I think that Atlanta is less likely to add a guard, at least a high-priced guard, with the addition of Flemings.

I still think the Hawks are going to need to add at minimum one veteran center, but they may need to add two.

Would Atlanta be content with bringing back Jock Landale (as they have been reportedly expected to do) and having Veesaar as the third center, with Ejiofor as a combo big that can play power forward and center? That seems like a stretch and given that Landale was out for the later part of the year with an injury, Atlanta may not want to have rookies being the main backups to Okongwu.

I think the Hawks are hoping Ejiofor and Veesaar will be their bigs for the future, at least rotational bigs, but next season might just be about development.

I think the Hawks are still going to be active in the big man market and the trade candidates to watch on this team are Kuminga, Hield, Kispert, and Risacher. Will all of these players be traded? I doubt it, but it would not surprise to see one or multiple of these guys moved in a deal this offseason.

There are still plenty of moves to be made for Atlanta this offseason and they are far from done in terms of constructing their roster.

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