2024 NBA Draft: New Atlanta Hawks Notes From The Latest ESPN NBA Draft Big Board

Who will the Atlanta Hawks Take With The No. 1 Pick in the NBA Draft?

Connecticut Huskies center Donovan Clingan (32) grabs a rebound during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship against the Purdue Boilermakers, Monday, April 8, 2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY

The NBA Draft is getting closer and the time for the Atlanta Hawks to make a decision is getting closer.

The Hawks shocked everyone when they won the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery with just a 3% chance, but what exactly they will do with the top pick is unclear. There seems to be a top three emerging amongst the draft prospects, with French prospects Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr, as well as UConn center Donovan Clingan, being the most talked about prospects at No. 1.

In the latest NBA Draft Big board from ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, they still had those three players as the top prospects and they included new notes about the Hawks when talking about the,:

1. Zaccharie Risacher:

"Risacher's 75-game season ended May 30, giving him a few days off before the start of the NBA Global Camp on June 4. There he was measured and conducted interviews, a medical examination, athletic testing and drills. Risacher will depart for Atlanta next week -- his home base for the remainder of the pre-draft process, a city he is familiar with after training there in previous summers. Before leaving for the United States, he has some loose ends to tie up in France, sources say, including passing his driver's license test, a farewell news conference at his club, JL Bourg, and a suit-fitting in Paris with Armani for draft night on June 26.

We'll see how wide of a net Risacher elects to cast in NBA team workouts with fairly limited time at his disposal and coming off a long season. Most teams don't expect him to be available in the draft past No. 4, when the San Antonio Spurs pick, so the Atlanta Hawks (No. 1 pick) and Washington (No. 2 pick) are looking like increasingly strong options."

2. Alex Sarr:

"Sarr will be one of the first names off the board on June 26, but the situation at the top of the draft has yet to fully play out. He is firmly in the mix as an option for Atlanta at No. 1, but the Hawks are being thorough in gathering information as they move toward their decision. If Atlanta passes on Sarr, Washington is strongly shaping up as a landing spot, with rival teams believing the Wizards at No. 2 to be his floor.

As a mobile 7-footer with skill potential and elite physical tools, Sarr has obvious long-term appeal as he gains experience and matures, and he should be able to make an impact defensively right away. He made big strides this season in Perth, and if he can protect the rim and space the floor at a high level at both the 4 and 5 spots, he'll be the type of player teams find challenging to acquire in any draft, no matter the depth of the class. Those potential high-end outcomes are worth a swing at the top of the draft."

3. Donovan Clingan:

"Clingan is a top-three prospect who might experience a minor drop on draft night because teams that are in the Nos. 3-6 range already have starting centers in place. He's in conversation at No. 1 after working out in Atlanta (which is exploring trade-down scenarios). He is also spending time in Washington, which has the No. 2 pick. Clingan isn't expected to drop past the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 7, whom he just visited for a private workout as well. He is being discussed among teams as a possible target for the likes of Chicago, Memphis, Oklahoma City or Utah, who all might explore trading up for a player in his mold.

Clingan's appeal is evident at 7-foot-3 with a 7-7 wingspan and 9-7 standing reach, and he's viewed by many as the draft's most impactful defensive prospect with the timing he shows as a rim-protector and the improvement he has made guarding the pick-and-roll. His youth, productivity, touch and instincts on both ends of the court give him a high floor and make him a sleeper candidate to hear his name called at No. 1."

Those were the only Hawks notes that were in their new big board.

It seems increasingly likely that the Hawks are going to take one of those players and Risacher and Clingan seem to have more buzz than Sarr does at this stage. Sarr was the popular pick right after the Hawks won the lottery, but Risacher and Clingan have been heavily discussed since then. A trade back from No. 1 could still be on the board for the Hawks, especially if they like Clingan the most.

It should be repeated though that this situation still appears very fluid. I don't think anyone truly knows what the Hawks are going to do just yet and they still have a few weeks to decide.

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.