ATLANTA — The Hawks have their newest member in the fold. On Thursday night, they selected Duke’s AJ Griffin with the 16th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Hawks stayed put at their original draft position as this year’s event unfolded more or less as analysts projected.
Griffin, who is 6-foot-6 and can play forward or guard, comes to Atlanta fresh off a Final Four appearance with the Blue Devils. The 18-year-old averaged 10.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and one assist in one season with Duke, while knocking down 49.3% of his shots from the floor and 44.7% of his tries from 3-point range.
Defensively, Griffin can guard multiple positions and could give the Hawks a solid perimeter defender as the team looks to develop its defensive identity.
The White Plains, N.Y., native comes to the Hawks from an NBA family. His father Adrian Griffin played 10 season in the NBA and is now an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors.
