Atlanta Hawks’ Draft Night Move Raises Eyebrows: What It Means for the Bucks

Atlanta Hawks’ Draft Night Move Raises Eyebrows: What It Means for the Bucks

there is one move made last night at the NBA draft the Bucks cannot ignore we tell you what that move was and why coming up next on Locked on Bucks you are Locked on Bucks your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast part of the Locked on Podcast Network your team every day welcome in to Locked On Bucks i’m Justin Garcia joined once again by Camille Davis we thank you for making this your first listen of the day each and every day you can find me on the Bucks Radio Network you can hear Camille on the Locked on NBA show and the Technical File podcast as well we had a handful of comments too very concerned Camille that we had three or four straight shows with me and someone else so uh just to put everybody’s mind at ease Camille is back was dealing with a very uh very nasty bug under the weather and still crawling there but we get Camille back today to recap the draft um round one of the draft last night a very very boring night you know like I I think you saw the moves made over the weekend and all the hype coming into the offseason that this is going to be the craziest off seasonason ever in terms of player movement and you know seeing Kevin Durant traded leading into the draft I think raised our expectations for here we go Brooklyn’s got five first they’re going to make a ton of trades we’re going to see other players moved and it just didn’t happen so uh scale of 1 to 10 where would you rate the overall experience of the draft last night honestly I’d probably go like a 6 and a half seven like we didn’t get that aspect of it which I did think we would get a little bit more of which would have probably pushed it to like a 10 for me um but the amount of trades within the draft and trying to keep up with who went where and wait so whose pick is this actually and they gave up what to move up three spots and seeing just how much people were paying to move up to get their guys seeing Yang go at 16 to Portland a team that already has three centers when they invested draft capital in one last year uh seeing what New Orleans was doing so for me I think the excitement of the draft came a lot more from like the wait what just happened or like this what are you expecting to do going forward uh with this team and less of like the actual player movement outside of uh Mark Williams being traded to Phoenix shortly before they drafted a center which again was like a okay this must be insurance for each other at this point because we know Mark Williams uh has an injury history here so yeah the the draft overall like halfway through you mentioned I’ve been under the weather like my head started to hurt again like halfway through and I was like “Oh no I got to try to finish this draft.” I barely made it i really don’t yeah by the end I was like I I I probably could have went to sleep for the last few picks here but um I stuck it through maybe that’s why I’m feeling not the best looking morning but yeah I’ll give the six and a half seven yeah I was in like the five six range um a couple surprises it was chalk through the first basically six picks and the trades look we’re going to get to the team that we teased you got to keep an eye on and here’s why but I’m glad you bring it up it’s certainly not a new conversation but the player wears the hat of the team he’s never going to play for and I think they even brought it up on the broadcast as well i was somebody else was asking me the same thing too of like why do they do this like well these trades are made and they have to be finalized in the new league year so technically it’s not this team making the pick but that’s the problem is we’ve discussed this before like number one the draft being less than a week after your season ends that part um I mean ideally the draft is late July where you just give it more and more distance from the regular season or the postseason I should say ending and it’s after free agency like every other sport does the problem with that is and and why I don’t think we’ll ever see that is summer league and the money that the league makes off of summer league unless you say “Hey let’s move summer league to August.” Um all right maybe but that’s the real root of the issue here is you got summer league in mid July so we got to get these young guys to their teams in time to participate in summer league but I think we’d all be best served if this draft was late July early August i agree because it’s not enough time to breathe like we just watched the Thunder have their parade on what Monday Tuesday and then it’s like the draft is like shortly thereafter like it the by the way Camille I mean I know they’re more your uh generation than mine and Frank’s that’s a very weird c the whole deal by the thunder the celebration the way they handled winning afterwards where it was a very millennial like whatever we want way way I don’t think that they’re millennial I think they’re a little too young right they’re a little too young to be in my group but you could tell like none of them really drank alcohol like it was a very subdued they didn’t know how to open the champagne bottles they were asking Alice Caruso like “Can you teach him?” The one millennial well kind of millennial I guess in the room would be Alice Caruso there but yeah I think it’s all just too the timeline is too tight and maybe the league would be open to moving it to summer league or summer league to August because when you think about Vegas in August you don’t really want to be there so I mean you don’t want to be there in July either which is part of the reason why it’s like you know Vegas loves having events come during these months when normally people don’t want to be there so maybe there could be a discussion about that and then you can roll from summer league right into your training camp so on and so forth but yeah the the timing of it all is is is kind of strange also one thing that was really strange for me in this draft another team in the East Brooklyn Nets five first round picks did you expect for them to actually make all five picks because I did not I expected at least one move me too and it did not happen and I was just like wait you’re really going to roll with five rookies and not only that but like again getting back to the previous discussion about well you can’t be consummated until the league year i at least expected to hear rumblings of hey Brooklyn’s not going to keep this pick it’s actually going to move over here and we heard none of that so I’m very curious maybe something does trickle out of this guy was actually drafted for this team and here’s this deal that’s consummated because even though we heard none of that I would still be very stunned if all five of those picks end up on the Brooklyn Nets this upcoming season yeah I would too it I just I was surprised they even drafted all five to begin with i was like is maybe one player going to be a stash or something like that but from everything I’ve seen so far it doesn’t look like they’re going in that direction so really just shocked to see that’s the way that uh things went with Brooklyn um and then New Orleans as we mentioned just some some questionable decisions for me like you trade for Jordan Pool right before the draft but then you draft Jeremiah Fear so now it’s a Jordan Pool Jeremiah Fears backcourt then you draft Derek Queen but you have Zion like I like Queen but I don’t like his fit next to Zion but is this an insurance policy and then and then of course they they traded the uh 2026 uh first that is you know tied to us in a way as well which also surprised me yeah we’re going to get there so that’s the the move you got to keep an eye on and Chris Herring by the way still reporting the Nets are going to keep all five of those picks and oh by the way they have the 36 pick tonight too so Brooklyn’s going to be an interesting team to watch but so are the Atlanta Hawks because of that move that Camille mentioned we’ll dig into the details coming up next this next 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and enjoy it all summer long head to wayfair.com right now to shop a huge outdoor selection that’s wayfair.com wayfair every style every home so I must ask um what are the New Orleans Pelicans doing exactly here and uh anybody that met the Joe Dumar’s hire with a bit of a side eye was pointing to last night and really the leadup to the draft to say see still not too sure about this the big one you mentioned some of the other moves that the Pelicans made they get rid of CJ McCollum’s expiring contract and they bring in Jordan Pool who is under contract for one season beyond that so you’re taking on $65 million when you had what 30 plus that you are going to have coming off the books to give you some more flexibility this all comes on the heels too Camille i think we talked about this earlier in the offseason of Dejonte Murray having some very interesting things to say about the Pelicans while he’s still employed by the Pelicans um so some questionable moves there but nothing in terms of questionable trades is going to top the draft day move they made last night to um to trade away an unprotected pick next season to move up 10 spots in this draft and that unprotected pick is the worst of either theirs or the Bucks and it goes to the Atlanta Hawks who very early stages but so far have had a pretty good off season to basically buy low on Chris Daps Porzingis to get their guys back healthy and now they get this lottery ticket of next season’s first round pick unprotected from a Pelicans team that doesn’t have a great track record and the draft as you mentioned of Patrick Queen i think that signals you’re probably going to look to move on from Zion Williamson but at that point you’re rebuilding I would say and why would you trade away future draft capital especially unprotected but here’s where it’s interesting for the Bucks and I know um the everyday especially a lot of Bucks fans hate when we point this out we are frankly as annoyed as anyone else as we’ve gone through in the offseason of the constant uh wish casting to trade Giannis to other teams but the Atlanta Hawks have been a team that have been linked to Giannis obviously you go back to the draft day and how much they were in on him in 2013 and then the rumblings had started to come out in this off season we talked about it with Alex Seratis one of Giannis’s agents up for the president job with the Hawks he didn’t get it but the Hawks were always one of those keep an eye on Atlanta and what they’re looking to do and the other thing we talked about I don’t see Giannis asking for a trade but I especially don’t see him asking for a trade to a team that already has their guy in an established star where you’re coming in as the 1B or you’re coming in as a co-star that’s not the case right now with Atlanta and you can point to Trey Young um it’s not a hey whose team is this if Giannis arrives in that scenario so that makes it interesting and who knows if Trey Young is on the team beyond this season but to make this move Frank and I talked about this with potential Nets picks on the show yesterday too the other big component to this is Atlanta saying “Well maybe if New Orleans is is down this year and rebuilding they’re going to be bad that could be a really good pick.” The gap year that the Bucks have kind of put out there what if they don’t keep their guys and it’s just Giannis and who they’re going to be bad we get that pick and what if that leads to a scenario where you get a couple of months into the season and Giannis says “This ain’t working this is to be clear this is neither of us wishing for this correct but walking through the logic of the Hawks what if that happens we can turn to the Bucks and say “Hey you’re off to a let’s say 15 and 30 start time to tear it down you can tear it down because we own your pick next year and we’ll give it back to you as part of the package for that guy.” So as soon as you saw that was the capital going to the Hawks that radar immediately went off for me of oh it’s a great asset number one by the Hawks but that is also a two-pronged approach there yeah it’s a two-pronged approach and Atlanta’s been a team even before we got to the draft night where I was like before the Porzingis trade where I was like Atlanta might be a sneaky good team that people aren’t talking about yet because they showed the Flashes last year and to your point about is it Trey Young’s team i can be honest did go down there Trey Young but one thing about Trey Young is that he’s always liked himself to be a pass first point guard uh but the situation in Atlanta kind of required him to shoot a bit more and be that guy as well and I feel like last year was the first year where you saw he kind of looked around and said “I got some guys here who I can kind of trust a bit more to get the ball to.” And he was perfectly fine with facilitating like I’ve loved Atlanta’s off seasonason so far even without the Giannis component but to be able to have flexibility in your front office to pivot depending on how the season goes depending on how other teams are playing is very very important and Atlanta put themselves in a position to be able to pivot and be able to make offers uh that could be interesting depending on how the season goes for the Bucks but New Orleans giving up that 2026 unprotected first that is a pick swap where Atlanta will now receive the more favorable pick between uh the Pelicans and the Bucks one it’s there’s a world where both of those teams miss the playoffs where both the Pelicans and the Bucks missed the playoffs and I was looking at it initially of just like okay the Bucks are probably going to be able to keep this 2026 first for themselves um because even with that said I still would find it uh I’d be surprised I’ll put it like that if the Pelicans finish better than the Bucks do um so for the Pelicans to make this trade with Atlanta to move up 10 spots like I get it when you are in love with a prospect when a guy is your guy you do what you have to do to get them but to me it feels like New Orleans is being very aggressive um and thinking a bit more highly of themselves in a loaded Western Conference uh than I think that they actually have equipped for them now Atlanta is a team that I could honestly see finishing top six in the East if a lot of things break their way like so for them it’s a really good move and for the Bucks it’s something to just keep monitoring of one how does this 2026 pick unfold because the 2026 draft from my understanding of it given how many guys we saw go back to college after you know this draft process in 25 the 26th draft class is going to be pretty stacked that’s a year where you do want to have a first round draft pick which I mean yes it sucks to not have one this year you can always try to find a jewel in the draft but next year’s draft in particular um is going to be one of those ones so for the Bucks like this season how it gets off to like if Giannis does ask out Atlanta’s a spot that could make some sense for him and also just thinking about how the season plays out like that 2026 first should be able to bring back some really good talent yeah I mean to your point there’s a a good chance both those teams there’s a chance both of those teams are missing the playoffs um I still it would have to be a nuclear setting for the Bucks to be Yeah I think the Bucks do make the playoffs for the record right because of the outlook of the Eastern like even if the Bucks have a terrible off season you’re going to enter saying “Well look at the rest of the East we got Giannis we’re at least a playin tournament team.” But that New Orleans one I mean to kick the can down the road like that in a draft class that as you mentioned look a lot can change in 12 months but it’s it’s viewed as a very strong draft class you’re in a very strong conference too if you’re the New Orleans Pelicans and you look at teams like uh the San Antonio Spurs who had a much improved off seasonason or adding to their team I should say and you get Victor Webbyama back for the remainder of the season memphis I think had a pretty good night at the draft last night as well even with losing Desmond Bane they feel like hey we’re going to be healthy next year that’s a team that is going to be picked to finish in front of the New Orleans Pelicans who knows what the Sacramento Kings do the Mavs around the fringe they’re clearly in front of you now with Kyrie back and and the addition of Cooper Flag the Blazers are certainly acting like they’re in win now mode with that acquisition of Drew Holiday and you mentioned Phoenix finally has more than shooting guards on the roster so who knows maybe Phoenix stays in front of you as well we heard the comments from Austin A of we’re not going to tank this season in Utah so there’s a scenario where the New Orleans Pelicans are the worst team in the West and you’re trading away an unprotected pick next season um and if you’re the Bucks you got to be looking at it too like what are you doing we could minimize the damage if we have a pick swap with you because it’s no threat of I don’t see Giannis asking out and I especially don’t see Giannis asking out to go to New Orleans but come on what are you doing here with this pick to the Atlanta Hawks it’s like if you were in a a fantasy league and the league has to approve deals um that’s what the Bucks would have been pushing for like hang on no we need all GMs to cast a vote on this trade because our vote is no yeah my vote would have been no too but New Orleans was going to do what New Orleans was going to do as you mentioned Joe Dumar is down there now and again the picks they make I just the team doesn’t make a lot of sense to me right now but I’ll give them a little benefit of the doubt because we haven’t gotten to free agency yet things can change of course as we lead into the season but yeah keep everybody Bucks fans all the everydayers keep your eyes on New Orleans this season on Atlanta this season of course the Bucks but like how those teams are playing is going to be important not very high on uh Patrick Queens Zion Williamson Jordan Pool Sadique Bay lineup that they’re throwing out there Murray as well but uh yeah it’s and he’s not gonna be back for a while with he’s still his injury so yeah uh it’s a weird team and it got even weirder last night so no picks from the Bucks they do have one tonight what can we expect from the second round we’ll get into that discussion coming up next time to talk to you about our friends over at Skiims when I found out SKIMS making underwear for men I was intrigued i’ve heard so much about their quality from a number of people so I had to give it a try and I can tell you it lives up to the hype you may always have issues with underwear whether it be fit comfort or just finding the right style for yourself well Skiims is here to change all of that their men’s line offers something for 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on in the first round like to get a Rasher Fleming I’d be ecstatic about but just given the assets the Bucks have I’m not sure how likely it is for them to do that um at this point so for me I’m going into tonight just expecting the Bucks to take somebody at 47 i think that there’ll still be some interesting guys on the board there um especially after how the first round went where there were some guys going a bit earlier than you thought later than you thought i feel like the second round is going to be more of a crapshoot in that way as well where there are enough guys older guys here in the second round because as mentioned a lot of guys did go back to college um after the draft process the combine and all of that because NIL makes college basketball a lot more feasible to stay in instead of being a second round draft pick where you don’t play as much where you can still go back to college get paid get your playing time and possibly increase your draft status along the way so personally I think the Bucks select at 47 and I would expect that it’s going to be an older player that can probably contribute in some way um immediately to the team not contribute in the sense of like what we got from Malcolm Brogden um or anything like that but just someone who come in and give you a few minutes tonight uh Jonathan Gavone has Rashir Fleming as the number one pick of the second round going to the Minnesota Timberwolves is you know this is this the year too where it feels like this is the other annual discussion and and study with the Bucks is uh Bucks fans just longing for them to take one of the local products and last year you had the oh are they going to take Tyler Kak um we know they’ve worked out Cam Jones and I believe Gavon has Cam Jones going one spot in front of them tonight to what I think Orlando picks 46 but um I could definitely see a fit there with the team that they’re trying to build if he’s on the board yeah Cam Cam Jones could give you a little something there he’s a little small um that’s one of the knocks against him but like he can be efficient he can orchestrate an offense like he can make big shots down the stretch uh last season the shooting kind of tailed off a little bit for him but he also had a much much larger role for Marquette a lot more on the shoulders um so that’s a little bit to be expected he’s going to have to show a little bit more defensively too but again we’re talking about somebody being picked in the middle of the second round so all of these prospects are going to have some type of flaw to their game um it’s really about the fit uh if you feel like they can come in and work and Cam Jones we know for sure is someone who is going to work um but some other names I’m also interested in around that spot if he falls I’ll be surprised if he gets to 47 but I’m a big fan of Jir Watkins from uh Florida State love the two-way aspect of it honestly if I was a GM you would know the type of players I’m going for i’m always going to lean towards the two-way guys bigger wings um and whatnot so he’s one of my guys my favorite prospect is is still Micah Peavey i know the shooting concerns are there with him if last year was a fluke uh with how he actually shot the ball but the defense for him um is really real but then of course you also have like a Chaz Laneir who can shoot really well um Kobe Brea like there are some guys still on the board that if they make it to 47 Tyrese Proctor uh you’re gonna have some interesting decisions to make um man all these names Camille somebody asked Frank and I too and we had to like yeah that’s that’s Camille’s uh background that’s not us we’re not the scouting guys i couldn’t tell you anything about these i I could tell you about guys that play for Arizona uh other than that and shouts to Carter Bryant who I think is is going to be we’re perfect for him too yeah I think he’s going to be like what Aaron Gordon eventually evolved into that’s what Carter Bryant is is going to be so yes an ideal situation um the Gavon does and you mentioned Jir Watkins uh he’s got him going to the Indiana Pacers which great let’s help him out even more right he has um the Bucks staying at 47 we mentioned uh Cam Jones he has going 46 he has the Bucks taking Javon Small the point guard out of West Virginia with that 47th pick and he got Micah Peavey going one pick after that to the Memphis Grizzlies yeah give me give me Peavey javon Small has has has something there but he’s he is he’s also a small guard it’s not just in name it’s also in stature um but but Micah Peavey he is 66 67 he’s a big wing defends really really well um again the shooting part is the big question for him he has a weird jumper i’m not going to lie to y’all it’s it’s a little weird when you watch him shoot the ball um and he has not been efficient with it throughout most of his college career but last year was the one year you saw him actually knocking it down at a pretty decent clip so um it’s the defense for me first and foremost when I’m thinking of how this team fits of course we always know you want shooters around Giannis you want shooters so if what he did in his last year at Georgetown is real or at least something that can be scalable where he can continue to work on that like you would really have something there yeah it’s you know I mentioned do we see the Bucks moving up in this draft i think they’d love to but it’s the age-old conversation we’ve had in the past of okay what are the assets you’re attaching to move up because they don’t have it i mean Frank brought it up too um is it like Andre Jackson Jr if you could get a second round pick for him and kind of recycle that maybe but I mean we’ve we’ve already see Ajax is out in Greece working out with Giannis so maybe there’s an expanded role coming for him this upcoming season but uh I am curious to see who’s going to be on the board and what the Bucks do with that 47th pick they also uh any fans that were wondering we talked about the disappointment of how man not a lot happened last night i did not expect anything to happen for the Bucks going into round one um just given the lay of the land number one but I think the Bucks themselves tipped their hands to when they said sent out uh to the media we are going to hold a gathering for the draft but just night two that the media are invited to attend at the facility here and John Horse to be available for questions we are not doing anything after night one so you’re like “Oh so nothing’s happening i don’t have to wait for I wonder if the Bucks are going to move into the first round so I guess that’s our answer um TBD on on what we’re going to do for tonight i know uh Frank had mentioned hey if something happens I’m down to record if it’s a a night like we saw tonight I don’t know how we’re going to handle this and especially if there’s no move made by the Bucks i mean we’ve already put five episodes this week out there so if it’s an uneventful night we may not have a show for you tomorrow or it may just be a quick recap or solo show or something but uh if something happens we will at the very least have Frank to get his perspective on that and to have a recap from there that’ll do it for today’s show for Camille i’m Justin we’ll talk with you guys once again on Locked on Bucks

Bucks fans, brace yourselves! The NBA Draft shakes up the league landscape. Will Milwaukee’s second-round strategy pay off?

Justin Garcia and Camille Davis break down the draft’s biggest surprises, from Brooklyn’s rookie haul to New Orleans’ bold trades. The duo analyzes how the Pelicans’ moves could impact Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future and dissect potential targets for the Bucks at pick 47. Plus, they explore the ripple effects of Atlanta’s draft-day decisions and debate the ideal timing for future NBA drafts.

Tune in for expert insights on how these draft-night maneuvers could reshape the Eastern Conference and Milwaukee’s championship aspirations.

0:00 Intro: NBA draft recap and Bucks implications
3:19 Draft timing issues and potential changes
6:28 Brooklyn Nets’ surprising draft strategy
9:55 Analyzing New Orleans Pelicans’ questionable moves
13:35 Atlanta Hawks’ draft strategy and Giannis rumors
17:32 Eastern Conference outlook and Pelicans’ future
20:21 Bucks’ second round draft expectations
23:34 Potential second round picks for Bucks
27:43 Bucks’ limited assets for trading up

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