The Atlanta Hawks only had a 3% chance to win the NBA Draft lottery but they didn’t let that stop them from wining the number 1 overall pick in this year’s draft for the first time in franchise history.
The Hawks, who finished 10th in the Eastern Conference after posting a 36-46 record, secured the number 1 overall pick with the fifth-lowest odds by a team to win the top draft pick since the lottery began back in 1985.
“It was a shock,” Hawks GM Landry Fields said following the draft lottery, according to ESPN. “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.”
“It’s a nice tool for us to continue to build out what we’re doing,” Fields added. “It’s exciting.”
French big man Alex Sarr is considered to be the top pick, and projected to go number 1 overall by a number of mock drafts, but it is not a lock, as other mocks and experts consider French prospect Zaccharie Risacher as well as Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham to go #1.
“There’s a lot of guys and I think it’s a lot of fun too,” Fields added. “So many different types of guys, so many different variations. We’ll look at it, dive deep and see what comes in June.”
“Every draft class has great players in it,” Fields said. “Our group has been fantastic. There’s been a whole lot of trust, they put in the work. So we’ll lean into our process and take it from there.”
