The Atlanta Hawks own the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Sunday afternoon, Atlanta defied the odds and won the lottery for the first time in franchise history. The Hawks finished the year as the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 36-46 record. Their season ended in the East Play-In with a 131-116 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Atlanta’s record left them with a 3% chance to win Sunday’s lottery — it was slotted at No. 10 before the lottery began. By winning the lottery, Atlanta becomes the team with the fifth-lowest odds to win the lottery since 1985. The Washington Wizards will be picking No. 2, followed by the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, respectively.
The Detroit Pistons, who finished the year 14-68, fell to No. 5 — the second year in a row the league-worst Pistons have dropped four spots.
“It was a shock,” Hawks GM Landry Fields said following the lottery Sunday. “You look at the percentages, but when I first saw it wasn’t us between 10 and 12 that launched us into the top 4, so I was like, all right we got a real shot at this thing. Bit of a surprise, but a lot of excitement.”
“There’s a lot of guys and I think it’s a lot of fun too,” said Fields. “So many different types of guys, so many different variations. We’ll look at it, dive deep and see what comes in June.”
While there is no clear-cut No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, the Hawks have a solid group of players to choose from. Players expected to be in contention to go No. 1 include Alex Sarr (France), Zaccharie Risacher (France), Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham (Kentucky).
