It won’t be long until the Hawks learn where they will pick in the NBA draft next month. The league’s draft lottery Sunday will determine where each of the 14 teams will be slotted after the drawing of the ping-pong balls.
The Hawks finished with a 46-36 record after putting up one of the league’s best runs following the All-Star break. They were the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference and bypassed the play-in tournament for the first time in four years. Atlanta lost its first-round playoff series against the Knicks.
With the franchise’s future as a primary focus, they moved on from guard Trae Young after 7½ seasons. They’ve opened up cap space flexibility, which allows them to build what they hope to be a championship roster through the draft and, eventually, free agency.
The Hawks will have three picks, with two of those in the first round. One pick is guaranteed to be in the top 14; the other is at No. 23 via a trade with the Cavaliers.
In 2023, the Hawks dealt Kevin Huerter to the Kings for a protected pick. That selection finally conveyed last year, and the Hawks flipped it in a deal with the Pelicans when they moved from No. 13 overall to 23. The Pelicans used their pick on Derik Queen, while the Hawks selected Asa Newell.
In return, the Hawks will receive the more favorable pick between where the Pelicans and Bucks land. Both finished among the 10 worst teams in the NBA.
“The best iteration of this team is going to be through development and our players currently getting better,” Hawks GM Onsi Saleh said Friday.
“We’re really excited about the future and what holds there, with the draft to the flexibility moving forward, all that stuff. We’re in a good place (and) position, set up moving forward, and our coaching staff has just been remarkable this year.”
The Hawks have two chances to get a top pick. Through trades, they will get the more favorable of the picks of the Pelicans (6.8% chance at No. 1) or Bucks (3%), and they have a 29.3% chance of picking in the top four from the Pelicans’ pick.
This year’s draft class has a lot of elite talent capable of transforming a franchise. AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson all bring NBA-ready talent with high upside.
Saleh, who will represent the team on stage as the drawings are announced, said the team will take the best available player, wherever it falls.
“I’ve been around too many and seen too many situations where, if you don’t draft the best player, you always go back to it, and you’re like, ‘Shoot, we should have drafted (them). What were we thinking? Like, that guy was (amazing),’” Saleh said.
“And you draft good players because the idea there is, they should make your current players better, too, and they should get better because your current players are really good, too.”
Though the Hawks have no guarantees at the top spot, it wouldn’t be the first time they have beaten the odds to pick first. The Hawks had a 3% chance at the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, but they jumped several spots to win the draft lottery and selected wing Zaccharie Risacher.
The NBA draft lottery is set for 3 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
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