Atlanta became the latest franchise to benefit from the NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday when the Hawks secured the No. 1 overall pick in the draft despite finishing with a better record than nine other teams this season.
Congrats to them. But now what?
There is no consensus top pick in this draft like there was last year (Victor Wembanyama) or like there probably will be next year (Cooper Flagg). But the majority of NBA evaluators do seem to believe that Alex Sarr, a 7-foot-1 center from France, should be the first player selected next month — and I agree with them. However, it’s also possible that the Hawks could shop and ultimately move the pick in exchange for veteran help given that they’re not really in a rebuild as much as they’re trying to move up in the Eastern Conference standings after finishing 36-46 this season.
As always, we’ll see.
But — with Clint Capela entering the final year of his contract — I’ll just assume for now that Atlanta will keep the No. 1 pick and use it on Sarr, who has all of the things you want in a modern-big except for a reliable jumper. That’s the swing skill, as they say. The percentages haven’t been great to date. But, for what it’s worth, Sarr does look comfortable shooting from the perimeter, so there are reasons to be optimistic that this 19 year-old can develop into a franchise-changing frontcourt piece and eventually prove himself as the best player from the 2024 NBA Draft.
