The Atlanta Hawks are reportedly "open for business" with the No. 8 pick as the 2026 NBA Draft nears.
The 2026 NBA Draft is quickly approaching, and the Atlanta Hawks hold a lot of cards going into the two-day event.
The Hawks currently have three selections. They're scheduled to pick at No. 8, No. 23 and No. 57 overall.
That gives Atlanta some power, and it appears that the team is exercising it. According to a recent mock draft by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, the Hawks are "open for business" when it comes to the No. 8 overall pick.
Vecenie reported that the squad has explored both trade-up and trade-down scenarios but could also keep the pick and draft a player of its choosing.
In the mock draft, Vecenie has the Hawks selecting University of Houston guard Kingston Flemings as of now. Flemings was fantastic in his lone season at Houston, averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game en route to All-American honors.
If the Hawks were to keep the pick and select a player like Flemings, there would certainly be optimism about the type of impact the newcomer could make.
On the contrary, if the team were to trade up, it could have a chance to select a prospect that is even more highly touted. And if the Hawks were to trade down, that could mean the No. 8 pick would help them bring back some established NBA talent or a bigger hoard of draft capital.
Atlanta has some options, and it still has some time to weigh everything, even though the draft is coming up soon. It will begin in less than a week, with the first day set for June 23 before it wraps up on June 24.
The draft is just one stage of an important offseason for the Hawks. They will also have some important decisions to make in free agency as they try to build toward a successful future. In the 2025-26 season, they made the playoffs despite shaking up their roster before the trade deadline. Unfortunately, their postseason trip didn't last long, as they lost in the first round to the New York Knicks.
It has now been several years since Atlanta last won a playoff series, as its last postseason success came in the 2020-21 season when it made a memorable run to the Eastern Conference Finals. The roster looked different then than it does now, and the Hawks are hoping to build a squad that can ultimately experience similar playoff success in the near future.
Hawks Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Hawks. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.
