Atlanta Hawks unlucky at No. 1, NBA scout doesn’t see any Hall of Famers

The Atlanta Hawks are preparing to make one of the most important decisions in their organization’s recent history, choosing which prospect to select first overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Zaccharie Risacher, Donovan Clingan and Alex Sarr are the consensus top three prospects, but according to one NBA scout, the lack of a “surefire” first-round pick negatively changes the public’s view of the class.

“I know everyone is saying this is a bad draft, and the only reason they’re saying that is because there’s no surefire No. 1 pick, and so the narrative becomes that,” said one NBA scout who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I also feel like some of this information is being put out by NBA general managers so they can get people to listen to the noise and get caught up in it.”

The lack of consistency in mock drafts speaks to the depth of the class, with All-Star talent all over the world. While the scout has some confidence in the prospects available, he highlighted the lack of all-time talent.

“If it were me, I’d take a long look. I like (Alex) Sarr out of all of them,” the scout said. “I think he’s the most complete guy in this draft, but here’s the thing: I don’t see a Hall of Fame player coming out of this draft right now. The sad part is the most interesting pick in the draft is a young guy who averaged 4.0 points a game, Bronny James, and good or bad, that’s just the nature of the beast.

James is expected to come off the board somewhere in the second round, on what could be a record-breaking second day of the NBA Draft.