The Atlanta Hawks have two glaring needs: A true point guard and a true big man.

Wings? They're good. The Hawks even have wings doing a point guard's work. Jalen Johnson is one of the best playmaking forwards in the NBA, and Dyson Daniels is nominally the team's point guard.

Half-court scoring? Sure, an improvement wouldn't hurt, but the Hawks could simply retain CJ McCollum. Paired with Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the reigning Most Improved Player, that arms them with some bucket-getters.

There is no rotation-level point guard on this roster. Onyeka Okongwu is a great player, but he's an undersized five. The Hawks are likely to satisfy one of these two needs with the eighth overall pick. They'll look to bring in a veteran to plug the other hole.

If they draft a guard, should they look at pending free agent Walker Kessler?

ESPN's Bobby Marks thinks Kessler would be a good fit in Atlanta.

Let's start with the pros. Kessler would be a perfect acquisition for the Hawks from a basketball perspective.

He's among the best rim protectors in the NBA. Kessler is a pure five. With the Hawks' athletic wings flying around the perimeter, he could give the Hawks one of the best defenses in the NBA.

That's exactly why he won't come cheap. Kessler is due to hit Restricted Free Agency (RFA). Marks's projected offer pegs him at four years and $125 million, starting at $28 million. So, the Hawks can't just ask themselves whether they'd benefit from Kessler's arrival:

They need to ask if he's worth the money.

That's where this gets tangly.

Kessler is excellent. It's also fair to say that he's a role player. In the current CBA economy, it's arguably imprudent to commit that type of cap space to a guy who doesn't create offense.

Especially when it's unnecessary.

If the Hawks are so desperate for rim protection, they can simply draft Michigan's Aday Mara. At 7-foot-3, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year should be able to protect the rim at an NBA level pretty quickly. Best of all, he'll be cost-controlled until his rookie deal expires.

Yet, even if they prefer a guard with the eighth pick, handing Kessler a big contract feels like overkill. There will be rim protectors in free agency at a fraction of the cost.

So yes, Kessler makes sense for the Hawks in terms of the 2026-27 season. He doesn't make sense for their long-term outlook. For a team that already has a surplus of talent, adding $28 million-plus to the ledger with so many more cost-friendly options available doesn't make sense.

The Hawks can satisfy their needs elsewhere.

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