For the first time in a long time, the Atlanta Hawks are the talk of the league in a positive light.
The franchise was able to turn this year's pair of first-round selections into Georgia's Asa Newell and a future first-round pick from the New Orleans Pelicans. The pick is a choice between unprotected options between the Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks. Considering the New Orleans piece of this is likely to be a lottery pick, this is an incredible move from Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh.
After the first three picks, this year's draft is a guessing game, and the Hawks' front office just gave the team a lottery ticket to drop down ten spots and still draft a player expected to factor into this year's rotation.
With this in mind, it is glaring that the Hawks are turning the page on what once was and selecting Newell after landing Kristaps Porzingis closes the book on the old Atlanta core.
Hawks Have Turned the Page Away From Clint Capela
For Clint Capela, this means finding a new landing spot after the Hawks have made it clear the veteran is no longer a part of future plans. The veteran center simply doesn't fit what the Hawks are clearly trying to build around star point guard Trae Young.
While Newell isn't a center, the rangy defender fits the idea of putting together a roster of switchable pieces that can help protect the rim. No longer do the Hawks need Capela on the court as a shooting liability. The team has pieces that can offer the upside of what Capela does best without having to deal with the lack of spacing or free-throw concerns.
For Capela, it seems the center won't have any issues finding a new landing spot with a long list of teams expected to need a rim protector this offseason. The writing was on the wall at the end of the season as the team seemed to continually pull away from Capela, even when the center was healthy.
The draft and offseason moves serve as confirmation of this and end any thought that perhaps Capela is returning for the 2025-26 season. That chapter is clearly closed with the Hawks building an exciting young core that could finally push the team back into relevance.