Could the Hawks come back from No. 1 and grab one of their future picks from the Spurs?

The 2024 NBA Draft is getting closer, but there is still no clear idea of ​​what the Atlanta Hawks will do with the No. 1 pick in the draft. Atlanta didn’t expect to be in this position before the lottery, but now has a chance to add an impact player, but not a superstar talent like in previous NBA drafts.

There has been talk about the Hawks possibly trading the pick and whether the San Antonio Spurs are willing to move up. San Antonio may want to speed up the timeline with Victor Wembanyama and may want to find a better player than they could get at No. 4. A popular trade idea has been for the Spurs to send their two first-round picks in that frame . draft of the year (4 and 8) for the No. 1 pick, but would a different trade be better for the Hawks?

The Spurs hold other picks that could be more valuable to Atlanta. When the Hawks traded for Dejounte Murray two summers ago, they sent their 2025 pick (unprotected), a swap of 2026 picks and his 2027 pick (unprotected) for Murray. Atlanta might consider trading Murray this summer and the results haven’t been what they had hoped for when the deal was initially made. If the Spurs want to move up to No. 1 to pair Wembanyama with Alex Sarr or Zaccharie Risacher, would they be willing to part with one of the picks Atlanta gave them in the Murray trade?

It’s an exchange that was discussed in a recent episode of the Game Theory podcast with Sam Vecenie of The Athletic and Bryce Simon. Instead of the Spurs giving up #4 and #8 to move up to #1, they proposed a trade that sent the #4 pick and Atlanta’s 2025 pick to the Hawks and the Spurs get the pick #1. in this year’s draft.

Here’s what Vecenie had to say about the swap idea they proposed on the pod:

“My idea was kind of…everyone had this idea, oh, the Hawks want to get their draft picks back, maybe they’ll move Trae Young to the San Antonio Spurs. What if we just do No. 1 for No. 4, then add in the Hawks 2025 first rounder, which probably won’t be a top ten pick, right, or it could be, it very well could be one. top ten pick, but it won’t be a top ten pick In all likelihood, a very high end pick in the next draft will probably be worse than #8 next year, I guess that will allow. for the Hawks to get one of their picks back for next year, which is very important considering how good this draft looks, I don’t know if I would do that if I was in San Antonio, I would probably keep. No. 4 at the end of the day, but what I will say is this: When I asked around, there was no one who could find a deal for the No. 1 overall pick. »

While this is just speculation at this point, it is an interesting business concept and one that could be more attractive to Atlanta. I think if they made this move, it could indicate that they prefer UConn center Donovan Clingan as the best player in the draft over Alex Sarr or Zaccahrie Risacher. The Spurs would take one of those players, the Wizards would take either Risacher or Sarr (the one San Antonio doesn’t select), then Houston would take a player like Reed Sheppard with the No. 3 pick, leaving the Hawks with Clingan. It’s a gamble though and if Atlanta thinks Clingan is the best player on their roster, they need to be absolutely sure to put him at #4. The Rockets could take him at No. 3 or trade the pick to a team like Memphis that could covet Clingan. Maybe the Hawks manage to land someone other than Sarr, Risacher or Clingan, although that doesn’t appear to be the case at this point in the process, as those are the three players most frequently linked to the Hawks.

Even if Atlanta didn’t want to embark on any sort of rebuild this offseason, it would be nice to have a future pick, especially in a draft like next season’s, where he should be much better than this year’s. Having this pick would give the Hawks a safety net for any type of outcome next season might bring.

There’s still a way to go in this process for the Hawks and they still don’t know what to do with the No. 1 pick. In his mock draft released this week, Vecenie had the Hawks stay in first place and take Sarr:

“Since winning the lottery with just a 3 percent chance, the Hawks, according to league sources, are still in the process of gathering information with the top prospects in this class. Atlanta participated in the Eastern Conference Play-In tournament and moved up nine spots on lottery night, so there wasn’t as much information about the prospects at the top as the teams who knew they would have high picks, like the Wizards below, but the Hawks are quickly catching up, with several front-office members taking a trip to France to see Zacharie Risacher in a playoff game, in addition to spending hours on the phone collecting. information on all their potential selections.

Because the Hawks are still earlier in their process than most of the other teams at the top of the lottery, this selection is still considered fluid. The two most popular names talked about around the league remain Sarr and Risacher, but the Hawks continue to do their due diligence beyond those two. Donovan Clingan is also seen as a potential option in the top three picks before his lineup darkens for teams currently ranked 4th-6th.

For now, I’m going with Sarr, who emerged early in this draft cycle as a potential No. 1 pick. His performance against the G League Ignite in early September led scouts to believe he was the best prospect on the field.

Sarr is a defensive difference maker who covers a ton of ground with his quick arms and feet, much like greats like Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr., Cleveland’s Evan Mobley and Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton. Sarr flies around the ball and can thrive in a variety of ball screen coverages from changeup to drop. If he waits near the rim and his opponents challenge him, there’s a good chance he’ll contest the shot, or even block it outright.

The other end is the question. Sarr has shown his potential as a rim runner in ball screens, but for the most part his offensive game involves pick-and-pops and he doesn’t make good contact with the screen. He is not a high-impact defensive rebounder, which led to questions about whether he could play center regularly in the NBA. If Sarr does indeed need a more physical center alongside him, his limited offensive game could be exposed. He’s best served playing next to a floor-spacing five, unless he can become a dangerous perimeter shooter himself.

I think Sarr is the best player in the class and the one that best fits what Atlanta needs most. An athletic defender and shot blocker who has room to grow on offense would be a great fit alongside Trae Young. If he can develop floor spacing ability and consistent shooting, Sarr has All-Star potential.