:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59386075/459207426.jpg.0.jpg)
The final day of the 2018 NBA regular season didn’t feature the Atlanta Hawks taking part in a game but there were plenty of rooting interests for the franchise. Because the Minnesota Timberwolves upended the Denver Nuggets to make the playoffs, the Hawks will receive Minnesota’s first-round draft pick and Atlanta also benefited from a season finale victory by the Orlando Magic in avoiding a three-way tie for the No. 3 spot in the upcoming draft lottery.
On Friday, though, the NBA executed drawings to break ties up and down the NBA Draft board and Atlanta was involved in two of them. For starters, the Hawks (by proxy of the Wolves) were pitted against the San Antonio Spurs to determine which team would pick at No. 18 and which team would pick at No. 19 in the draft. In addition, Atlanta and Dallas faced off in a tiebreaker to determine pre-lottery position, indicating which team would land ahead in the event that neither actually drew into the top three on May 15.
In the end, the drawings resulted in the Hawks owning their own first round pick (with a 13.7 percent chance at the No. 1 pick and a worst possible position of No. 7 overall), the No. 19 overall pick (via Minnesota), the No. 30 overall pick (via Houston) and their own second round selection at No. 33 overall.
Atlanta’s second round pick lands at No. 33 as a result of reverse-order, as the Hawks lost the drawing for pre-lottery position and, as a result, flip-flop with the Mavs for the later selection. Obviously, the draft lottery on May 15 is of high importance for Atlanta but the other three selections are now locked in and that allows for planning (both from the front office and the fan base) in the coming days.
For clarity’s sake, the draft picks owned by the Hawks are as follows:
- Atlanta’s own pick (lottery pending with a floor of No. 7 overall)
- No. 19 overall (via Minnesota)
- No. 30 overall (via Houston)
- No. 33 overall
In addition, Atlanta’s lottery odds are below:
- 1st - 13.7%
- 2nd - 14.2%
- 3rd - 14.5%
- 4th - 8.5%
- 5th - 32.3%
- 6th - 15.5%
- 7th - 1.3%
Stay tuned.