New Bleacher Report Trade Has Hawks Sending Bogdan Bogdanovic to Orlando for 2025 Draft Pick and Rotation Depth

Should the Hawks trade Bogdanovic to get more opportunities in the 2025 NBA Draft?

Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; Serbia shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (7) controls the ball during the first half against the United States in a men's basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Hawks currently lack their own pick in the 2025 NBA Draft after sending it to the San Antonio Spurs in the original Dejounte Murray trade. It's a mistake that could prove to be catastrophic if the draft class is as good as experts seem to think it is.

Cooper Flagg headlines the top of the class, but there's plenty of good talent avaliable after him. Nolan Traore, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, Rocco Zikarsky and Khaman Malauch are just a few of the highly-touted prospects that are viewed as having major star upside. If the 2024 draft class discourse was all about finding the best fit, 2025's discourse will revolve around who has the most upside.

At the moment, the Hawks aren't projected to be in contention for any of those names. They have an unprotected 2025 first-round pick belonging to the Los Angeles Lakers, which projects to be around the middle of the first round (13-18). Atlanta could also get another pick in the draft if the Kings earn a pick that falls outside of the top-12. However, they could certainly stand to add more pick equity in the draft so that they can move up for players that they are targeting. One player who could help them add those picks is Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report recently suggested that the Magic might make sense as a trade partner for Bogdanovic's services. The deal's framework would look like this:

Atlanta Hawks receive: Cole Anthony, Jett Howard and a 2025 first-round pick (top-5 protected via Denver Nuggets)

Orlando Magic receive: Bogdan Bogdanovic

While I do think it would help the Hawks to add more pick equity in 2025, this would be a pretty disappointing return. Bogdanovic is one of the best off-ball shooters in the NBA - full stop. In 2023-24, he finished fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting, shot 37% on six attempts a night from deep, led the Hawks with a staggering +/- of 173 and broke the franchise record for most three-pointers with 240. That's to say nothing of how effective he is as a decision maker and performer in clutch situations. During the Olympics, he was critical to Serbia's bronze medal run and their ability to challenge the USA in the semifinals.

Howard and Anthony can both contribute to an NBA rotation, but I do not think either can come close to replacing what Bogdanovic brings. I talked about Howard as a target for the Hawks in a previous piece:

"Howard is more of an upside swing. The former lottery pick has shown that he is a reliable three-point shooter, posting a three-point percentage of 37.7% on good volume in the G League. He followed up his G League stint by averaging 19.0 points and 3.3 assists on a shooting percentage of 47.6% in Summer League. He is still growing as a defender and does not offer much as a playmaker."

Anthony took a step back after a good 2022-23 campaign and fell out of Orlando's playoff rotation. He's been an effective sixth man in the past, shooting 36.4% on 3.4 attempts a game in 2022-23. He is athletic with the tools to become a good defender, but his value is at a low after a rough season. Furthermore, I do not consider the pick that the Hawks are getting from Denver to be particularly valuable either. The Nuggets did not have the best offseason, but they are still poised to be a top-four seed in the West. It's more likely than not that their first-round pick ends up being in the 20s, which would be a pretty marginal return for a player as effective as Bogdanovic.

It's an interesting idea, but I do think that the Hawks would look elsewhere if they wanted to move Bogdanovic for more draft capital.