Atlanta Hawks Take High Upside Prospect In Latest 2024 NBA Mock Draft

The offseason is starting early for the Atlanta Hawks this year.

For the first time since the NBA ended their season in the bubble, the Atlanta Hawks are not in the playoffs and they are facing a huge offseason. The main discussion surrounding the Hawks will be around what they decide to do with Dejounte Murray and Trae Young, but with Atlanta missing the playoffs, they find themselves in the NBA Draft Lottery for the first time since 2020. Atlanta has never held the No. 1 pick, but they will hope that they have lottery luck on May 12th, the night the draft order is finalized. If things hold the way they are now, the Hawks would pick 10th and they have a 13.9% chance to get into the top four and a 3% chance to land the top pick. Over the past few seasons, the Draft Lottery has seen a team with the best odds land the No. 1 pick. Not since New Orleans won the 2019 Lottery to pick Zion Williamson has a team made a major jump up to No. 1.

If the Hawks stick at No. 10 and don't move up or down, what might the Hawks do there? In Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman's latest mock draft, he has the Hawks selecting G League Ignite forward Matas Buzelis with the No. 10 pick.

Here is what he had to say about the pick:

"Matas Buzelis showcased enough scoring versatility, athleticism and defensive playmaking to maintain a spot in this year's lottery discussion. Inconsistency and disappointing three-point shooting numbers have also affected scouts' confidence.

Buzelis should have a legitimate opportunity to improve his stock during workouts, where he can help ease concerns over a 26.1 three-point percentage that everyone expected to be significantly higher out of Sunrise Christian Academy."

I think this would be an interesting selection for the Hawks because forward is a massive need for the Hawks. Right now, Atlanta would go into next season with De'Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, and Saddiq Bey as their main forwards. Bey is coming off of an ACL injury and his timetable for a return is unclear and while Hunter did take steps forward and did some things well, he is still underwhelming at times given what the Hawks need. Johnson looks like a future All-Star and Atlanta has intriguing players at forward like Vit Krejci and Mouhamed Gueye. Still, Atlanta needs better players at that position and a guy like Buzelis could make an impact down the road, though I don't think it would be in year one.

The only player I that the Hawks pass on in this mock draft that I think they might take is Duke forward Kyle Filipowski. Filipowski showed big improvements on defense this year and is a capable defender. I think the Hawks should look hard at drafting him this summer.