Atlanta Hawks Wins NBA Draft Lottery

The Atlanta Hawks will have the #1 draft pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. This is the first time the Atlanta Hawks won the NBA lottery in franchise history. The Hawks finished the season with a 36-46 record. They finished 10^th in the Eastern Conference and lost to Chicago in the 9 versus 10 play-in game. Atlanta had a 3% chance to win the lottery, which was the 5^th lowest odds by a team to win the No. 1 pick. The Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs rounded out the top four. The Detroit Pistons will have the 5^th pick after finishing with the worst record in the league. The Rockets, 41-41 this season, moved up six spots to get into the top three. Washington and Detroit had the best chances to land the top pick at 14%. The draft is June 26-27 in Brooklyn.

Atlanta jumped from the No. 10 position before the draft to the top overall selection, beating improbable odds. It’s the first time since 1975 the Hawks will be selected No. 1 overall. The Hawks haven’t won a postseason series since a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021. They got knocked out in the first round in 2022 and 2023 and didn’t advance past the play-in tournament this season. Atlanta has some big decisions to make this offseason, including whether to break up its backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Now Fields will have to decide how to utilize the No. 1 overall pick. French big man Alex Sarr is projected to go No. 1 to Atlanta in ESPN’s latest mock draft. Below is the draft order of the NBA Draft Lottery.

NBA Draft Lottery Order

1. Atlanta Hawks
2. Washington Wizards
3. Houston Rockets
4. San Antonio Spurs
5. Detroit Pistons
6. Charlotte Hornets
7. Portland Trailblazers
8. San Antonio Spurs
9. Memphis Grizzlies
10. Utah Jazz
11. Chicago Bulls
12. Oklahoma City Thunder
13. Sacramento Kings
14. Portland Trailblazers

Will the Hawks select Alex Sarr as many expect? If so, where will the Wizards and Rockets do with their picks? What will the Spurs do with their 4^th and 8^th picks? The Spurs will continue to build around Victor Wembanyama, who’s coming off an incredible season and rookie of the year. Oklahoma City is the top seed in the West and in a tough series with Dallas.