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article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
Asa Newell (R) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver (L) after being drafted twenty-third overall by the New Orleans Pelicans during the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 25, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New Yor <\/p>\n
ATHENS, Ga. – The Atlanta Hawks selected Georgia forward Asa Newell with the 23rd overall pick in the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, landing the athletic freshman after a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans.<\/p>\n
SEE ALSO: NBA Draft shakeup: Atlanta Hawks draft Derik Queen, trade rights to New Orleans Pelicans<\/a><\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Newell, a 6-foot-9, 223-pound forward, led the Bulldogs in scoring as a freshman and helped guide Georgia to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in more than a decade. He averaged 15.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 54.3% from the field, earning SEC All-Freshman honors.<\/p>\n Born in Atlanta and raised in Athens, Newell brings local ties and NBA-ready physical tools to the Hawks\u2019 frontcourt. At the NBA Combine, he measured a 6-foot-11\u00bc wingspan and nearly a 9-foot standing reach. Scouts describe him as a modern stretch-four, with upside as a shot-blocker, offensive rebounder, and floor-spacer.<\/p>\n He started all 33 games for Georgia and impressed scouts with his motor, rim protection, and flashes of perimeter skill. While projections had him going as high as No. 9 in some mock drafts, his need for continued development \u2014 particularly as a shooter and defender against physical bigs \u2014 led to a late-first-round selection.<\/p>\n Big picture view:<\/p>\n The Hawks traded down 10 spots from the No. 13 pick to acquire Newell, sending Maryland\u2019s Derik Queen to New Orleans<\/a> in exchange for the No. 23 selection and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n With Atlanta continuing to reshape its roster under new leadership, Newell adds athleticism, versatility, and long-term potential to the mix.<\/p>\n The Source: This article sources FOX Sports, the Associated Press and previous High 5 Sports reports. Additional details were provided by the Atlanta Hawks. This article is being reported out of Atlanta.<\/p>\n NBA<\/a>Sports<\/a>High 5 Sports<\/a>Georgia Bulldogs<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article Asa Newell (R) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver (L) after being drafted twenty-third overall by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,24263,677,30220,6,772,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-160205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-georgia-basketball","13":"tag-hawks","14":"tag-high-5-sports","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-ncaa-basketball","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114827727043541493","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}