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ATLANTA — The Atlanta Hawks moved back into the NBA draft on Thursday by trading forward AJ Griffin to the Houston Rockets for the No. 44 pick before trading that pick to Miami Heat to obtain rights to guard/forward Nikola Djurisic of Serbia.
The Miami Heat acquired the draft rights to Pelle Larsson, the No. 44 pick, from Houston and obtained cash considerations from Atlanta, the Hawks announced Thursday night.
The 6-foot-7 Djurisic averaged 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 30 games with Mega (Serbia).
The Hawks made French teen Zaccharie Risacher the No. 1 overall pick in the draft Wednesday night. It was Atlanta’s only pick in the draft before Thursday’s trade.
The trade of Griffin, a 2022 first-round pick, helps to clear playing time for Risacher, a wing.
Griffin was limited by injuries, including an ankle sprain, to 20 games this season. He averaged 8.9 points and 2.2 rebounds while playing in 72 games, including 12 starts, as a rookie in the 2022-23 season.
In other trades prior to the Thursday’s second round of the draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves traded guard Wendell Moore Jr. and the 37th pick to the Detroit Pistons for the 53rd selection, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The 37th pick was used on Swedish forward Bobi Klintman, and the 53rd pick was UConn guard Cam Spencer.
The Pistons said they had agreed to acquire the draft rights to Klintman as part of a larger deal that is expected to be finalized after the league moratorium ends on July 6.
Also, the Golden State Warriors reached agreement on a planned trade of the 52nd pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for guard Lindy Waters III, then the Thunder dealt the pick to Portland — only for the Trail Blazers to send it back to Golden State. Once finalized, the Warriors will acquire Boston College center Quinten Post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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