Former Atlanta Hawk Lobbies For Team To Trade No. 1 Pick: "This is not the time to be trying to rebuild"

The Atlanta Hawks have been one of the most talked about teams in the NBA since they won the lottery yesterday. Atlanta defied the 3% chance given to them to land the No. 1 pick and now they have one of the most intriguing offseasons in the entire league in the coming months.

There is a lot of discussion around what the Hawks should do with the pick, whether they should trade it to try and land more immediate, veteran help or do they keep the pick and take an intriguing player with high upside like Alex Sarr.

During NBAXLive, former Hawk Lou Williams made his opinion known that he wants the Hawks to try and trade the pick:

"Trade that pick. Trade that pick because listen, you have an opportunity to go get some real deal assets for it and there are teams that could actually use an Alex Sarr or somebody like that, that can build for the future. Atlanta aint building for the future, they still feel like they are in the mix and they need a bounce back season. This ain't the time to to be trying to rebuild or retool."

“Trade that pick... This is not the time to be trying to rebuild" 👀@TeamLou23 reacts to the Hawks landing the No. 1 draft pick on #NBAXLive pic.twitter.com/4FIEFcqDLj

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 13, 2024

Hawks General Manager Landry Fields held a press conference after the Hawks won the lottery and when asked about the possibility of trading the No. 1 overall pick, Fields said that is not the focus for them right now:

"Not even our focus right now. Like... this is a point in time where the opportunity before us is an excellent one and it puts us in position. Positioning is key in this business and that is the position that we have right now, the No. 1 position. We will just keep doing what we do, gather as a group and we will figure this thing out in time."

This is the question that the Hawks are going to have to answer over the next six weeks. Atlanta still needs to sort out its backcourt situation and decide if they would rather keep Trae Young or Dejounte Murray, as it seems unlikely that they are going to keep the backcourt together giving the underwhelming results they have had on the court for the past two seasons.

There is also not a No. 1 consensus player in this draft. Most have Alex Sarr being taken No. 1, but it is by no means guaranteed. If a star player were to become available, than Atlanta would have to at least consider trading the pick. If they don't get an overwhelming offer for the No. 1 pick, they can just stay at No. 1 and take their highest-rated player. Sarr would be an excellent fit along with Trae Young and he has a very high ceiling on the defensive end, to go along with length and athleticism. Any team could make a Godfather offer for the No. 1 pick, but Atlanta might be best suited to stay put.