1. Bob Pettit
The Milwaukee Hawks selected Bob Pettit out of LSU with the 2nd overall pick in the 1954 NBA Draft. You may not think that a 2nd overall pick can be a steal, but when it’s a player as good as Bob Pettit and he’s drafted after a guy named Frank Selvy, it is absolutely a steal.
Pettit played all 11 of his NBA seasons with the Hawks and averaged 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds per game. Pettit made the All-Star game in each of his 11 seasons in the NBA and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971. Thus why he was a lock for the All-Hawks first-team that you can see in the related story below.
As I mentioned, Bob Pettit was taken 2nd overall behind Frank Selvy. Selvy ended up playing nine seasons in the NBA but was only named to two All-Star teams and isn’t remotely close to being in the Hall of Fame conversation. Imagine if the Atlanta Hawks ended up with Frank Selvy as opposed to Bob Pettit… they certainly wouldn’t have won an NBA championship in 1958.
Overall, Bob Pettit is arguably the best Atlanta Hawk of all time and the fact that they drafted him any lower than first overall is a massive steal.