2018 Draft Pick Updates After the Hawks’ Final Game

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There is still much to be decided for the Atlanta Hawks when it comes to where they will select in June’s NBA Draft. The team “took care of business” and fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, though it took some stellar work from the team’s stable of veterans.

The Hawks would’ve been in better position had they not pulled out two extremely surprising victories over the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics last week, as they would only have 22 wins – which would put them in the running for second-best odds in the Draft Lottery.

Alas, Atlanta beat those two playoff-bound teams, so there’s no sense living in anguish over what might’ve been. The Hawks are currently tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the third-best lottery odds, and there’s a very, very good chance that the Orlando Magic will also finish with an identical record of 24-58 with the Hawks and Mavs.

Orlando plays the Wizards tonight in the last day of the regular season, and the Magic have absolutely no reason to win that game when it comes to draft seeding. However, you never know with the Magic, as they were beaten by the Hawks a few weeks ago then came back and defeated two fellow tankers in the Knicks and Mavs.

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Defeating the Wizards would be a tall order, however, and it unlikely that any of the Magic’s major players will see much of the court in that one. Still though, the Wizards probably want to slot into the 7-seed in order to face off against the vulnerable, injury-riddled Boston Celtics in the 2-seed in the first round of the playoffs.

If the Hawks end up tied with the Mavericks and Magic at 24-58, the three teams will split their ping-pong balls equally when the Draft Lottery rolls around. Once again, Hawks fans find themselves in the unenviable position of rooting for the Orlando Magic in a game that could not matter less to the franchise – when it comes to winning.

According to fivethirtyeight, even with the Magic pulling off a clutch loss, Atlanta is given a 41 percent chance at a top-3 pick and a 12 percent chance at the #1 overall pick, which are solid odds and ahead of the Magic’s 34 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

There is still much to be decided when it comes to the Hawks pick, but as we have stated, this draft is pretty stacked within the Top 7-8, so falling as low as 6 or 7 will not be the end of the word (though it’s certainly not ideal).