The Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings both want to get the best play-in seeding possible. But due to a three-year-old trade between the teams, the Kings would prefer that the Hawks and other Eastern Conference teams keep winning.
The Hawks traded Kevin Huerter to the Kings before the 2022-23 season in exchange for a lottery-protected 2024 first-round pick. When that pick didn’t convey last season, it turned into a 2025 pick, protected for picks 1-12.
After defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night, the Kings are 38-40 and sitting in ninth place. They would be on track to pick 14th, with only a 2.4% chance of moving up. If that holds, Atlanta would get their pick.
The Hawks are in eighth place, one game worse than the Kings at 37-41. Atlanta owes its pick to the San Antonio Spurs no matter what, thanks to a 2022 trade for Dejounte Murray, a deal that likely prompted the Huerter trade. The Hawks still have a chance to host the 7-8 play-in game if they can beat the Orlando Magic twice this week, so they’re motivated to win.
So the dream scenario for the Kings is a lot of losing from the Dallas Mavericks, a half-game behind them, and a lot of winning from the Eastern Conference teams with similar records. They need two teams to leapfrog them in the standings, whether it’s the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls or the Hawks.
In fact, the Kings might not mind if the Mavs passed them as well. If they could become the 12th-worst team in the NBA instead of 14th-worst, they might value that more than hosting a play-in game. Two years ago, Dallas didn’t try for the play-in at all and tanked its way into the top-10 to preserve a protected first-rounder, ending up with center Dereck Lively II and a trip to the conference finals.
Atlanta has its own business to attend to in the regular season’s final week. The Hawks’ front office at least will be watching the scoreboard and cheering on the Kings — even if Sacramento’s executives might not be.
