CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The NBA Draft Lottery has been completed, the order has been doled out and the Atlanta Hawks beat the odds to come out on top, when they were granted the top overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft.
It is the first time the Hawks have won the top choice via draft lottery in franchise history. They had the No. 1 overall pick in 1975, via the New Orleans Jazz, and selected David Thompson (who chose to play for the ABA’s Denver Nuggets).
Triumphant Hawks general manager Landry Fields celebrated the reveal Sunday afternoon on live television as the team’s onsite representative when the order of the top two selections was revealed.
Fields flashed a toothy grin when the Washington Wizards — who had the second worst record in the NBA at 15-67 last year — were announced to have landed in the second spot, giving the top choice to Atlanta.
The Hawks (36-46) had just a three percent chance at receiving the top choice, as opposed to a 65.91 percent chance at picking tenth overall. It is the fifth lowest odds all time for a team to wind up with the top selection in the lottery.
The Houston Rockets will select third, while the San Antonio Spurs are at No. 4.
Despite having the league’s worst record at 14-68, and the best odds at winning the lottery, the Detroit Pistons fell all the way to the fifth choice.
Rounding out the top ten will be the Charlotte Hornets (No. 6), Portland Trail Blazers (No. 7), Spurs (No. 8), Memphis Grizzlies (No. 9) and Utah Jazz (No. 10).
The Chicago Bulls will pick 11th, while the Oklahoma City Thunder are 12th. The Sacramento Kings are 13th and the Trail Blazers are 14th.
–Field Level Media