Atlanta Hawks reportedly jumped ahead of two teams for Henri Veesaar

With the 2026 NBA Draft in the books, the North Carolina Tar Heels had two players selected this year. The first player to be selected was Caleb Wilson, who went No. 4 overall to the Chicago Bulls.

His former teammate, Henri Veesaar, was projected to also go in the first round. But as the first round came and went, Veesaar wasn’t selected which marked a disappointment for the center. Then, going into day two, it sounded like he would be selected right away.

But once again, Veesaar had to wait.

He was finally selected at No. 52 overall by the Atlanta Hawks, ending his freefall. Now, a new report suggests that Veesaar had a promise and wasn’t going to sign a two-way contract, but instead get a guaranteed deal. The Hawks moved up to get Veesaar and reportedly jumped the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks to land him.

Veesaar opted not to return to UNC and potentially missed out on a NIL deal worth up to $5M per a report. His freefall into the second round didn’t help the case, but hindsight is always 20/20. Would UNC have benefited from Veesaar returning? Probably. Would he have benefited by playing under Michael Malone? It’s likely.

But now, Veesaar is headed to Atlanta, where he has the chance to prove the doubters wrong.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Atlanta Hawks moved up to get Henri Veesaar