The Atlanta Hawks will aim to stop a three-game losing streak on Friday when the Sacramento Kings come to town. Here are three storylines to monitor.
The 2025 NBA Draft
It’s early to be thinking about the 2025 draft, but Friday marks the only visit to Atlanta for the Kings. Why is that relevant? Well, the Kings owe a top-12 protected draft pick to the Hawks in 2025.
In short, the Hawks want the Kings to be good this season, but also not too good. The best-case scenario for Atlanta would be Sacramento landing in the play-in mix and sending a pick in the mid-teens to the Hawks.
Of course, the Hawks don’t want the Kings to beat them on November 1, but in a way, a loss wouldn’t be quite as damaging as it would be in any other circumstance.
The injury issues persist for the Hawks
Atlanta fell apart in the second half on Wednesday, losing a third straight game overall and a second straight game to Washington. While the team did not play well, the Hawks were also operating with a rather dismal roster situation. Unfortunately, nothing projects to change for Friday.
Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring), Kobe Bufkin (shoulder), and Vit Krejci (adductor) are out for a while. Seth Lundy and Dom Barlow are both assigned to the College Park Skyhawks at the time of this newsletter’s filing, and both have dealt with injuries of their own.
And, on Friday, both Dyson Daniels (hip) and De’Andre Hunter (knee) are out again. Daniels is officially listed as day-to-day, but Hunter’s situation is more murky. This is his fourth straight absence and, unlike the first three games, he was ruled out more than 24 hours before tipoff.
David Roddy’s future
The Hawks formally exercised team options on Daniels and Bufkin ahead of an October 31 deadline. However, they did not pick up Roddy’s fourth-year option, making him a free agent this summer.
That does not guarantee that Roddy will go elsewhere, as he could still sign with the Hawks. But the price tag of approximately $4.8 million proved to be too lofty for the Hawks given Roddy’s situation. For what it’s worth, that was widely seen as the expected decision, and it is a logical one, even as Roddy is thrust into regular duty with Atlanta’s injury situation.
