Atlanta Hawks Select The Draft's Top Prospect in ESPN's Latest 2024 Mock Draft

What will the Atlanta Hawks do with the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA Draft?

Alex Sarr / Sporting News

The NBA Combine is now over and there are five weeks until the 2024 NBA Draft. The Atlanta Hawks shocked everyone by winning the NBA Draft Lottery and now they have some decisions to make. Will they keep the pick and if they do, who do you take in what is perceived to be a weak draft? Do you try and trade the pick to get more immediate help? Those are the decisions that the Hawks front office has to make going forward.

Most mock drafts since the Hawks won the lottery have seen Atlanta take Alex Sarr, the 7'1 220 LBS forward/center from France. Sarr fits a huge need for the Hawks, as he is projected to be an excellent defender with length and athleticism, though his offensive game needs to come along. ESPN's Jonathan Givony released his new mock draft today and he has the Hawks taking Sarr, while also acknowledging that most around the league don't really have a feel for the Hawks's plans:

"The Hawks jumped all way from No. 10 to 1 in the draft lottery, a rare stroke of luck that gives the team a chance to select a different caliber of prospect than the one their front office was preparing to pick all season. In an interview at the combine, general manager Landry Fields said he plans to "cast a wide net" in evaluating the Hawks' options at No. 1, which makes sense in a class with no consensus top prospect. Fields flew to France at the conclusion of the combine to watch potential No. 1 pick candidate Zaccharie Risacher drop 14 points with 6 rebounds in a playoff game but was not in attendance for Risacher's breakout game two days later when he had a career-high 28 points.

At this stage, NBA executives don't have a firm grasp of what the Hawks might ultimately do, as word coming out of their front office is they are still at a very early stage of decision-making and have plenty of work to do in gathering information and finding alignment. Many around the league expect the Hawks to select Sarr with the top pick, as there are compelling reasons to consider him the best prospect in this class with his elite physical tools, mobility, defensive versatility, finishing ability and potential as a perimeter shooter. He'd fit in nicely in a frontcourt alongside the likes of Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu, and should develop into a formidable rim-protector who can also cover ground on the perimeter, which is attractive in minimizing the defensive shortcomings of Trae Young.

We'd expect Fields and the Hawks front office to consider other options here as well, including Risacher, Donovan Clingan and trade opportunities."

It does feel like Sarr, Clingan, and Risacher are the players that are being considered the most right now with the No. 1 pick. Fields, head coach Quin Snyder, and assistant general manager Kyle Korver were in attendance to watch Risacher and on a recent episode of his podcast, ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski hinted that Clingan has a chance to go in the top three, including to the Hawks:

"I think with Clingan, there are elements to his game that you did not see at UConn that have been there and he has been someone that going back to his high school days, spent a lot of time, behind the three-point line and developing that game. You go watch him workout and you watch him practice and him moving all the way around the arc and back again and shooting the ball. He has not been a great free throw shooter, but there is no reason to believe that he is not going to be a better free throw shooter, there is nothing wrong with his stroke and it feels like it is a place that he is going to improve. His dominance for UConn, what he did, the improvement, the lateral quickness, his ability to recover and cover so much ground, you saw the NCAA Tournament, I mean Illinois literally could not get anywhere near the basket with him on the floor, but you saw it all year.

As teams are meeting him and getting their....they know what the intel is on him, what kind of teammate he has been, the kind of leader he was, the kind of empathy that he has for teammates, that has been known, but you just talk to teams who started to get to spend time with him and anybody around him knew that that was only going to enhance his stock when they get to meet with him and I think he will only go to select teams and spend even more time in their organization, certainly that is only going to help his case at No. 1, No. 2 with Washington, or perhaps even No. 3 with the Rockets."

Atlanta has struggled on the defensive end of the floor for the past few seasons and lacks size, athleticism, and length, which Sarr brings in droves. He is 7'1, 220 LBS, and has a 7'4 wingspan. He uses his athleticism well and would be an impact guy on that end of the floor immediately. He is arguably the highest-ceiling prospect in the draft at a position of need for the Hawks. He is the presumed favorite to be selected No. 1 for a reason.