The Atlanta Hawks added a new and unexpected member to its team with a draft pick they didn’t have until today.
The team drafted Nikola Djurisic with a #43 draft pick they swapped with the Miami Heat in exchange for cash considerations. They got on the second-round draft board by trading their guard AJ Griffin to the Houston Rockets for their #44 pick. (Miami acquired the draft rights to Pelle Larsson from Houston.) Before today, the Hawks only had one pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and that was the #1 pick they cashed in for last night to get Zaccharie Risacher.
ATL’s newest playmaker, Nikola Djurisic! pic.twitter.com/Fhmvt6zZWa
— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) June 27, 2024
Credit: NBA/X
Djurisic had no NBA experience prior to joining the Hawks, but in playing for the Adriatic Leauge and Serbia’s Mega Leauge during the 2023-24 season, he got 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 30.6 minutes of play. He ranks sixth among Adriatic League players.
Djurisic was the 2022-23 Adriatic League Top Prospect Award winner, U19 Adriatic Junior League MVP, and 2021-22 EuroLeague Adidas Next Generation Tournament MVP.
The outgoing Griffin was drafted by the Hawks in 2022. In his two years with the Hawks, he averaged 7.5 points, and 1.9 rebounds in 17.1 minutes.
