NBA
2024 NBA Mock Draft: Who Do the Hawks Select At No. 1 In the Latest Mock Draft From The Athletic?
The NBA Draft is three weeks away and what exactly the Atlanta Hawks do that night is very much up in the air. While it does seem like Atlanta has zeroed in on a few prospects, what they do is still being debated.
The hot name at the moment is French forward Zaccharie Risacher, who was mocked to the Hawks with the No. 1 pick in the latest mock drafts from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, they both had Risacher going No.1. It was a departure from French big Alex Sarr, who was the popular pick right after the Hawks won the NBA Draft Lottery.
In a mock draft released today, NBA Draft analyst Sam Vecenie mocked Sarr to the Hawks with the No.1 pick, but also said that what the Hawks do is very much up in the air:
“Since winning the lottery with just a 3-percent chance, the Hawks, according to league sources, are still in the information-gathering process with the top prospects in this class. Atlanta was in the Eastern Conference Play-In tournament and moved up nine spots on lottery night, so it didn’t have quite as much intel on the prospects at the top as teams that knew they would have high selections, like the Wizards below. The Hawks are catching up quick, though, with several front-office members taking a trip to France to see Zaccharie Risacher in a playoff game, in addition to spending hours on the phone gathering information on all of their potential selections.
Because the Hawks are still earlier in their process than many of the other teams at the top of the lottery, this selection is still seen as being fluid. The two most popular names that come up around the league remain Sarr and Risacher, but the Hawks continue to perform due diligence beyond those two. Donovan Clingan is also seen as a potential option at all three of the top selections before his range goes dark for the teams currently slotted at Nos. 4 through No. 6.
For now, I’ve gone with Sarr, who emerged early in this draft cycle as a potential No. 1 pick. His performance against the G League Ignite in early September had scouts believing he was the best prospect on the court.
Sarr is a defensive difference-maker who covers a ton of ground with his arms and quick feet, much like bigs such as Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr., Cleveland’s Evan Mobley and Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton. Sarr flies around off the ball and can thrive in a variety of ball-screen coverages ranging from switching to drop. If he’s waiting at the rim and opponents challenge him, odds are he’ll contest the shot, if not outright block it.
The other end is the question. Sarr has shown potential as a rim runner in ball screens, but for the most part, his offensive game involves pick-and-pops, and he doesn’t make great screen contact. He’s not a high-impact defensive rebounder, which has led to some questioning if he can consistently play center in the NBA. If Sarr indeed requires a more physical center alongside him, his limited offensive game may be exposed. He’s best served playing next to a floor-spacing five, unless he can become a dangerous perimeter shooter himself.”
I think Sarr is the best player in the class and the one who fits what Atlanta needs the most. An athletic defender and shot blocker who has room to grow on offense would be a great fit next to Trae Young. If he can develop floor-spacing ability and a consistent shot, Sarr has All-Star potential.
There seems to be a sense that the Hawks are still early in their process of evaluation and that they are doing their due diligence on prospects. On the latest episode of the Lowe Post Podcast, ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony and Zach Lowe discussed the top of the draft and what the Hawks might end up doing:
“And so especially Atlanta, I think this kicks off a really long process for them where its like, wow, we’re drafting No. 1, this is amazing. And then its, holy s***, now we actually have to decide who to take No. 1. And it’s not like one of those years where its like, Victor (Wembanyama) at the top, boom, done. Or Anthony Davis, LeBron, whatever, Zion.
There is no clear consensus. I have heard that they are trying to invite between six to eight guys in, but there is also some talk that maybe they are going to look at moving down, taking multiple swings at this, which I think could be an interesting play in this draft. They have a lot of things to figure out internally first, Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Clint Capela, De’Andre Hunter. There’s so many moving parts on their roster that, you know, how do they view themselves?
Are they, you know, does this kick off, you know, potential rebuilding process where maybe they are looking at trading one of Trae Young or Dejounte Murray or both? And you know, what is the appetite there? You know, first of all, in the front office and then with the coaching staff, ownership, you know, there’s going to be a lot of voices there in terms of what direction they should head in, which is normal. I mean, every NBA team goes through that process for, you know, where are we at? Where do things stand and where are we going to be and how do we view it? And I’ve been told that it is going to take time to figure out this process and sift through the options, you know, figure it out, you know, what to do.
And I have been saying along, you know, even from, you know, our very first mock draft in February of 2023, we said something like, this might be a draft where we don’t know who the No. 1 pick is until Adam Silver steps up to the podium and announces the pick, which is rare. You know, we saw that, you know, a couple of years ago with Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, and Jabari Smith. But usually, you know who the No. 1 pick is going to be. You know what the top five is going to look like. And we really have no clue. Part of that is, you know, one of the guys at the top, Zaccharie Risacher, just finished his season. You know, instead of coming over here to start his pre-draft process, workouts, and, you know, getting ready for interviews, he had to fly to France and Italy.
So I’ve used the lull between the conference finals and the finals and some of the days in between games to start making calls. And I just, everyone is like, no one has any idea what Atlanta is going to do. Everyone just tells me that it is too early. Atlanta does not know what Atlanta is going to do.”
Before they wrapped up their conversation on the Hawks, Givony and Lowe talked about UConn center Donovan Clingan and where he might go, with Givony mentioning that Hawks head coach Quin Snyder does like Clingan:
“Yeah, so we have Donovan Clingan ranked No. 3 on our big board. You can make a case for him as high as the second best prospect or even the No. 1 prospect. I have heard that Atlanta likes Donovan Clingan. Quin Snyder especially like Donovan Clingan and so Atlanta had, I think, one of the worst defenses in the NBA the past few years and one great way to fix that is to draft a guy with a 9’7 standing reach who is the best shot blocker in this draft and who anchored a national championship defense the past two years.”
These next few weeks and this entire decision process is going to be crucial for the Hawks. Let’s see what transpires.
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