Atlanta Hawks NBA Draft Preview W/ Matt Babcock

Atlanta Hawks NBA Draft Preview W/ Matt Babcock

welcome in Hawks fans your boy Bryce Lewis back at it again for more Atlanta Hawks content and we’re only two days away from the NBA draft and so you know we have to keep it going last NBA draft video before the draft for the Atlanta Hawks i wanted to bring on Matt Babcock NBA draft analyst a guy who has been very much doing his homework looking at all the prospects probably has mentioned a lot of the names some of you guys have mentioned matt I appreciate you coming on to the show how are you doing today man hi Bryce i’m doing great and like you mentioned as an NBA draft analyst we’re two days away from what what is like my Super Bowl so uh very excited and a lot of a lot of rumors flying and it’s uh you know fun time of year yeah definitely man and so you know obviously especially with this draft and especially where the Hawks land in their two spots a lot of people feel like there’s a lot of options for this team that they can go in different directions i think some of the needs some people are looking at backup point guard potentially behind Trey Young maybe more size at the center position obviously another wing um so first pick they have is the 13th pick like I mentioned so Matt my first question to you is as of right now who do you think the Hawks should be targeting at 13 well I mean funnily enough should should and and will are two different questions uh however I think that the names that keep popping up are are names that I I would look at if I were them as well uh Yon Behringer uh French French player played in Slovenia this year and then Asa Newol who’s just down the road in Athens Georgia uh both both these guys keep keep popping up and I would be very excited about either one of those guys if I were the Hawks yeah and is there is it is it are you looking at more fit are you looking at more just the path for that player the potential like I think this there’s a path there like what do you what goes into your decisions when you’re thinking about what player goes to what team yeah I mean it depends on which team you are and where you’re picking and all that and the options that that are in place i I think with Atlanta specifically uh you know they’re a young team that that you know has has a a pretty you know strong core unit i mean visualizing what that you know the team might look like you know a few years from now you start seeing it taking shape and so I think adding adding you know somebody um that that has a pathway to be a part of that I mean I think is important but you also bring somebody with some upside i think at 13 in this year’s draft you’ve got a number of options of guys uh that if things click I mean could be very good starters you know and so I think that’s that’s an exciting place to be and I I don’t see there um you know necessarily being right or wrong decisions i think there’s a number of guys uh where you know I would be open to the argument of why they make sense for Atlanta and whether it be for depth purposes or or bring somebody uh that that has upside to be a starter like I mentioned you know with Behringer you know he’s 18 years old i mean I think he’s just scratching the surface of what he’s going to become and same thing could be said about New and uh you know Behringer is very interesting man i’ve been high on him all year and I think he’s finally really gaining the momentum that he deserves you know I’m not I’m not certain he gets out out of the lottery you know as I mentioned with the Hawks 13 pick but there’s other teams sort of rumored to be in the mix with him as well uh you sort of reminds me of a young you know from an upside standpoint you know very you know maybe more athletic Joe Noah you know and so that’s that’s the type of player we could be looking at a few years from now and Nathan I think you know provides probably a little more flexibility uh you know if you project him long term as being more of a four or five i think Behringer’s more of a five um but yeah two two exciting names for sure okay okay so let me ask you about this name i know this is a name that some fans have connected at that spot um and it’s also kind of some people wonder if that would be a good fit but I’ll ask if Colin Murray Boils dropped the 13 do you think the Hawks should be considering him at that spot you know I his name is in the mix for for all the picks in that range uh per personally I I would prefer the the other guys uh if they all three are there uh you know I think we call him Murray Boils he is somewhat polarizing you know on one hand I he does a lot of great things defensively provides a lot of toughness and versatility just a lot a lot of traditional big man type stuff sort of in the mold of former Hawk Paul Milsap however the big question mark I have with him that Paul Millsap had you know had you know going into the draft as well is how much of a perimeter game does he have uh with Milstap of course he added a lot to his game he became an all-star level player uh but that that is a big looming question with Murray Boils i mean right now he’s pretty much a non-shooter uh in today’s modern NBA i mean there’s there’s not many guys that are finding success especially at the four spot that can’t shoot the ball a little bit and so uh you know I think depending on who you’re talking to I think he you know sort of holds different value uh in large part because of the question marks with his outside shooting yeah and that’s fair i think that’s something that again Hawks were not needed help at shooting last year especially once they had some injuries and I know that’s something that they’re still looking to upgrade and try to improve especially with the fact that Quinn likes to get up a lot of threes in his system so that may be one of the reasons why they maybe wouldn’t go in that direction even if he was available right there so I do want to ask you now pivot to we heard some we’ve heard rumors about the Hawks maybe looking at potentially trading up um I’ll I’ll ask what more of a what if before like an actual like who they actually might be able to get if they did it so obviously we’ve been hearing a lot about Ace Bailey potentially falling because of what’s been happening behind the scenes i don’t see this happening but I wanted to see what you thought if he dropped to a certain range maybe six to eight do you see Atlanta maybe maybe making a call just seeing do you even think that would even be a good fit for Atlanta if he was falling at all in this draft yeah I mean if he were you know hypothetically to slip that far i mean a Ace Bailey I mean I think he’s been dissected probably unfairly at this point i mean he’s a young guy that’s a little immature and it sounds like he’s got some you know bad representation but you know I I I don’t I I you know from my understanding there is a lot of teams uh keeping a firm pulse on what’s going on there and I I’m not expecting him to slip much you know my expectation will be probably going three four or five i don’t know if it will beat to actually one of those teams the the amount of trade chatter right now is is dramatic i mean it’s like this every year uh but this year feels a little extra or a lot extra uh and Ace Bailey is a big part of that so you know I think there is some truth to people having some question marks about his maturity um you know in some of these squads on the court but like at the end of the day this guy’s upside is significant so a team like the Hawks if if they can you know move up and get a guy like that I I I could see that you know that that’s a guy that has star potential you know and in a team like the Atlanta you know I mean you’re you’re still you know building for for what this team’s going to look like the next two three years and so adding a guy that has that that high of a ceiling uh I mean that that definitely should should be interesting to them yeah and I I think to you know like you said adding adding a guy who some people do feel is a star and I think when you have that potential you know they always say potential talent you know we can get past all the things that happen in the pre-draft process because listen if he ends up being a great player all of it ends up not really mattering at the end of the day so I just want to ask about that but to a person that they actually I’ve heard could be connected to I apologize if I say his name wrong i think it’s Mullawatch from Duke the center he was named that some people think if the Hawks did trade up in this draft they could go after again some size or looking to add at center um is would you agree if the Hawks trade up that probably should be a guy they’d be a targeting at that point just because of that hole I guess they have yeah from mile watch I mean it seems like his stock is skyhigh right now i mean speaking to people it seems like it’s a pretty you know similar narrative with everybody everybody loves him everybody sees the vision of him being a long-term starter in the NBA i mean he’s absolutely huge you know 71 plus but moves pretty fluidly um need to be a stronger and uh you know I think offensively you know he’s on this stack team at Duke um you know his role was was very limited offensively and you know in national team stuff and his pro day he’s really shown signs that he might be able to shoot the ball from outside so a guy that could be a defensive anchor cover some space and have have some upside offensively to add to his bag uh I mean you you could plug a guy like that in just about anywhere so yeah it would not surprise me at all if Atlanta or other teams are looking to move up to to snag him and kind of pencil him in as like a long-term starter at the center position yeah and I think too it’s always interesting because they have a yucka kongu there right now so some people wonder if they did that would that would that mean yucka’s out the door would they start would they maybe even start them off the bench just you know first year usually with rookies sometimes some teams like to ease them in instead of just pushing them out there immediately especially with the Hawks who kind of feel like they have some expectations to be a postseason team next year obviously East is wide open so something that could be also be looked at if they decide to make that move you know I mean one thing and sorry to cut you off one thing I think is worth noting here is you know with how the game’s being played right now how the game’s coached with with lineups and rotations if guys aren’t playing quite as many minutes as they were in years past which I think alleviates some of the tension of log jams that there’s there’s plenty of minutes for for guys to coexist i mean I think the biggest thing is are certain guys able to be on the court at the same time so I mean with a kungu and malawash I think that’s an interesting question uh you know I mean I think that’s where how much trust you have in Malawash’s ability to shoot the ball from outside you know that that that would be interesting to me right because if you are confident that he could you know provide some like floor spacing now you’re put in a spot where a kungu is doing some low post stuff against fours rather than fives now he’s potentially a powerhouse and you know some of it would probably come within the flow of the game like that that would be a question I would have internally with the staff if there were opportunities to bring in a guy like that yeah and that makes sense you know because obviously some people some there’s been debates in the Hawks community about you know is a Congo center should he play more forward etc etc i know a three-point shot he’s been working on he proved it towards the end of last year so it it’s something that could potentially work in that regard and obviously he has that versatility to play with different guys like a Mullatch and obviously even with a guy like Jaylen Johnson who they have right now so I think that that’s something I’m sure may be being discussed in the building just in case if they that was a move they wanted to make there i do want to ask you about one more player at 13 before we move to 22 what do you think about to Thomas Sorver at that pick for the Hawks at 13 um I I I wouldn’t expect him to go quite that high i mean I don’t think it’s that outlandish by any means i mean a very good player uh honestly pretty similar to a Kungloop you know i mean a big bodied low post score very smooth um has not really you know had outside shooting be a big part of his game uh does feel like a little bit of a replication of a coma so I would be surprised uh if they were to target him at 13 these other names I mentioned seem like a a more seamless fit however if he were to get to 22 that’s a different story now now we’re talking about a very high value pick and I think at certain point with with all these players u you know to get to get to a certain range you need to look at okay just getting a really good player uh you know you know a high value uh pick and so 22 yeah I would be buying that 13 feels like a little bit of a stretch okay okay fair enough fair enough all right so let’s go to 22 obviously I think a lot of Hawks fans especially because a lot of fans mentioned the center spot and I’ve named a couple of guys to you already they feel like if not at 13 22 could be a solid spot for that there’s some guys uh that they really like there’s a lot of value I feel like at 22 in the draft of this team who do you like in that area you know it’s I’m going to sort of deflect the question a little bit because it’s a lot of it is just who’s going to be there right and I think there’s so much uncertainty with this draft and you I wish I could come on shows like this right now we’re two days out and say “Hey I know where all these guys are going.” There there is so much uncertainty among NBA executives and agents right now that not many players have back stops and uh I mean there’s guys with extremely wide ranges compared to most years i mean I’m sure these players and these parents are just freaking out right now it’s it’s wrong especially with us having uh two days of the draft and the guys that that are French first rounders guys that slip through the second round i mean that’s going to be a brutal 48 hours you know and yeah but you know I think with Atlanta you know if they were to stay put at these two picks I think a lot of it’s going to you know to determine who’s going to be there at 13 and they’ll probably kind of change it up at the second pick i don’t see them bringing in two big guys likely probably be you know if they say they you know draft one of these guys I’m mentioning at 13 probably looking at a guard or a wing uh and then you just got to see who’s there i mean there there’s a number of guys uh that that are interesting like for wings i mean Cedric Coward Nate Clifford Will Riley I mean the list goes on um you know you could could lose guys like that um you know guard um Nolan Treyora from France i mean he he’d be an interesting guy if he’s there walter Clayton from Florida i think I think Atlanta is going to have potentially a pretty big pool at both picks as far as what direction they going and honestly if we were dealing where we’re doing you know grading draft picks the day after there there’s a number of options I think they could do where they they could have a great draft okay yeah and I I think like what you said I mean it’s very fair like I said there is such a wide range and I think when you hear some people discuss all the picks and all the prospects you just hear five six seven eight names connected to one pick just because of that so I get not being able to kind of be like okay this is who I would think would be here at this spot um I will ask about another guy who I believe the Hawks have worked out and have also visited to work out he’s a guy that I just heard a big popular name popping up from from China uh Hansen Yang is a guy that I think some people are high on in this draft um I just want to get your thoughts on him as a player and what do you think about him yeah he’s definitely helped himself a lot and I mean I think you know in the past uh he’s he’s a little out of shape kind of on the heavier side he’s really trimmed down i mean the visibly at the combine he looked great he’s shooting the ball making plays uh has definitely moved the needle in the right direction i I probably see him more as like a solid second round pick whereas I mean you know going into the comp I saw him more as a fringe draft pick uh and now I’m expecting to see him sort of in that range where he’s probably going to get or at least a chance of getting a decent contract yeah so and listen some I mean I’ve heard people say maybe that could be another guy they consider at 22 but like I said I don’t see the Hawks double dipping in the draft so depending on what they do at 13 they’ll probably do differently at 22 and like I said those three positions or there’s three positions of need that I mentioned for them i mean I think they’ll be able to at least dress two and I always say NBA is different because they’re drafted for free agency so you’re thinking of what young player can you bring in to help address position before you even get to veterans and guys who’ve been in the league so you know I think one thing too to keep in mind is that the the game has become every year is more and more uh positionless right and with that uh is a lot of flexibility i think Atlanta’s a perfect example of this they have a lot of guys uh that that can coexist with each other on the floor obviously Trey is not in that boat with his lack of size but so many different lineups you can throw out there and you know sort of different scenarios of guys you can bring in and why it can make sense and so I think it’s a lot different than it used to be in years past where there’s just very clear kind of linear pathways for a guy i sim similar like at the NFL like based on your scheme there’s some guys that will just be not an option at all i mean if you’re running a power run offense you’re not bringing in you know receiving back or you know you know a number of different examples like that i think the NBA is much more fluid uh in regards to the roster construction yeah and I think that’s something they kind of already started to do this year uh which brings me actually to this question so I’m g I’m want you to kind of turn the clock back a little bit to last year this time Hawks were the first pick they drafted Zachary Reisha with the first pick i wanted to ask what were your thoughts about Zack going into the draft last year and now after seeing a season was it what you expected from him was he better than you expected was he worse you know I mean a young guy with with a lot of upside i mean I think you know there’s always a lot of uncertainty when when you’re drafting a kid that’s so young and unproven i say I mean he exceeded my expectations as far as his production this early but they created a pathway for him to produce too right so I think that’s part of it is you know for these young guys i think sometimes uh the critics are a little too harsh too quickly so you know I I think as far as um you know doing reddrafts and like I said being overly critical on these guys let’s give him some time you know and so whether they’re produced or not a lot of it is the opportunities there or not um you know but I I do think they should feel good about where he’s at in his development i’m expecting him the next next couple years uh continuing to progress yeah and I mean like I said you think about the whole team with him too i mean a lot of guys made improvements obviously Dyson Daniels is another guy who I think a lot of people maybe didn’t expect his off people i think the big question was offensive game we knew the defense would be there it’s just his offense and even though there’s still a lot of work to be done he did improve this last year which ended up helping him win most improved player in the league yeah and Jaylen Johnson same thing i mean he’s I mean I loved him going to the draft and there were some question marks with him all that and he’s he’s been terrific and so I mean I think long you know longterm from a roster construction standpoint uh they’ve got a lot to work with you I mean I I think there’s probably question marks is Trey going to continue being a big building block or not but either way I mean I like I like what they have in place i see I can see a vision of where this is going obviously they need some more pieces they need guys that can continue developing uh but I mean I think the trajectory is on the up and up well and speaking of Trey obviously I think one of the big things about him that makes him you know so special to a lot of people is his passing and some people say he’s a bigs you know dream pairing um when evaluating player especially like bigs or wings in this draft with if you have a player like Trey Young how does that change the evaluation process when you’re like “Oh maybe he’s not a shot creator but Trey can get him the ball can get him good looks.” How how do you like play that when you’re maybe evaluating a guy and have a player like Trey on their roster yeah I mean that definitely comes into play obviously Trey is a very unique player special player but he’s polarizing right i mean offensively I mean his game is predicated around his outside shooting which he has limitless range uh and so he’s just able to create so much and to your point I mean if you’re if you’re building around Trey um you know it takes some pressure off guys having to create i mean you having some glue guys that are good catch and shoot or get out on the break uh but the honestly the biggest thing would probably be defensively and that’s where I mean Dyson Daniels I mean I think everybody in the league uh would highly value him but especially when you’ve got a 510 or whatever point guard uh that’s just okay defensively he t he takes a lot of the load off of him and so I mean I think complimentary guys um that provide some forward spacing uh you know be you know a good compliment to Trey i think that’s something they probably discussed and uh and I think internally I mean with Trey you know whether he’s in the Hawks or moving forward somewhere else he does need the ball in his hands to be effective and so I mean that’s what makes him pretty polarizing because if he’s on your team he’s going to be your main guy or one of your main guys uh and so that that’s where it’s sort of a big decision you know hey are we continuing to build this thing around him uh you know because it needs to be sort of dramatic one way or another yeah and I think too you know I think that also was what played a part in like when they drafted Zack you know knowing where his weaknesses are and saying “Oh okay if we put a wid with Trey how does that make it work?” Cuz when you look at the team it kind of feels like it’s kind of I guess maybe some people like the first time they really fit a certain type of team around him and you know obviously people believe Jaylen didn’t get hurt season could have ended up differently for them and then we could be talking a bit of a different conversation right now but you know even though they don’t own any of their draft picks this year but uh one last question for you then I’ll let you go Matt uh just one more player I wanted to ask about rasher Fleming he’s a he’s been a guy I feel like has rose up boards a lot of people like him uh stretch stretch I think four three is what I’m hearing for the most part uh what do you think about him and potentially his fit if the Hawks want to entertain at 13 or 22 yeah know I’m glad you brought that up he actually fits what we were talking about to a te the way I see him he’s he’s a 6’8 stretch for uh and 68 doesn’t sound imposing guy’s got like a if I remember correct like a 74 wingspan and he he covers a lot of space defensively um you know really good in the catch and shoot he’s not I wouldn’t I wouldn’t consider him overly dynamic he’s more of a you know upside of being a very good complimentary player that that’s not flashy but you know I mean if if you’ve got a guy like Trey that’s able to create a lot of offense uh you know a player like Rashir would would probably be a good option at 22 depending on what you do at 13 you know and so that that’s a name uh you know and then on the flip side another name that’s in that range is Danny Wolf from Michigan who’s actually the opposite of Rashier Fleming he’s a guy that’s a seven-footer that’s doing all this crazy stuff with the ball in his hand i mean he’s dropping dimes left and right and put putting the ball on the floor crossing guys up uh and so the question I would have is okay put him on a team with Trey trey’s very ball dominant you know he’s making a lot happen with the ball in his hands um you know is Danny good enough to have the ball in his hands to be dynamic like he was at Michigan and you know I think the the answer could be different depending on what what kind of an environment what kind of team you put him on right and what’s the pathway for him to find success uh but I mean very interesting conversations that I I do think are happening uh internally with with these teams it’s interesting you brought up Danny Wolf because I think some people look at a bicas as they say an idea ideal idea player where basically it’s like oh the idea of him and what he can do may be good but they feel like again it’s very team fit Pacific there with him you know we can’t just put him on any team because I think there’s questions with the defense there but you acknowledge the passing you acknowledge the defense and I think without maybe the passing you could even say uh Renault from Stanford is another guy that some people are like sevenfooter can shoot spread the floor i think he averaged what 20 and 10 at Stanford last year so I mean that’s another guy I think some people will be like uh pick and pop guy could also with Trey if they want to look there yeah i mean I think Reno I think Ryan Caulrider kind of falls in the same category if you’re looking at 22 of like okay who’s somebody that can provide some depth for us right away and I think Renault and CR are both older guys uh that that you give you something you don’t have i mean they’re they’re they’re true fives they’re huge provide some rim protection they both also also shoot the ball you know enough to provide some forward spacing and so again I that’s where I if you’re Atlanta and a lot of these teams there are so many different options and sort of pathways you can take that to me would would suggest you know a pretty good draft i don’t I don’t think this is a very linear draft in regard to like hey we’re going to take the next player available or best player available because I think that could be a lot of different players depending on on on the approach and mindset of that team yeah and like I said especially with new decision makers at the helm for the Hawks this season it’ll be interesting to see how they how they view things it’ll be interesting to see if they do actually trade up in this draft uh they have a lot of options on the table and I think they’re just exploring every option to see if there’s something they could do because they obviously want to help the team get better as they like I said try to make a push to be a postseason team next year but Matt I appreciate you coming on to the show man let people know where they can find you yeah our our website’s bathcocks.com and then on social media you can find me at mattcock 111 and all the all all the the usual social media platforms but yeah we’re going to update our mock draft tomorrow doing a new show and um yeah just going to keep keep a pulse on everything uh as everyone else is it’s exciting time two days away from the draft and can’t wait yeah man very exciting times man especially with after we just crowned an NBA champion off season begins and people are getting their engines ready trying to dethrone them next year but obviously guys if you enjoyed this episode subscribe to the channel like the video if you’re listening this through audio leave a rating leave a review obviously we’ll see what happens with the draft i will be on after to talk about everything that happened that night but I appreciate you guys tuning in to Believing Hawks that’s Matt i’m Bryce we’ll see you next time

NBA Draft Analysis Matt Babcock joins the show. We talk about what the Hawks should do at 13 and 22 before Wednesdays draft and more.

Topics

Hawks at 13
Some key players to look at
Hawks at 22
and more

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