2024 NBA draft selection order: which teams pick first?

It may feel like the Boston Celtics have only just clinched their historic 19th NBA championship but already the focus is turning to the future. On Wednesday night the 2024 NBA Draft will decide the destinations of the next crop of potential superstars, a two-day extravaganza with 58 players set to join the professional ranks.

This year the heralded No. 1 overall pick will go to the Atlanta Hawks. The Eastern Conference side are projected to sign French starlet Alex Sarr, a seven-foot center who could provide the dominant physicality that the Hawks were lacking last season.

The Hawks finished with a 36-46 record in 2023/24, not enough to reach the playoffs but far from the worst record in the NBA. So how did Atlanta bag the first pick in the draft?

Why do the Atlanta Hawks have the No. 1 pick?

As a general rule, the NBA’s in-built parity ensures that the weaker teams from the previous season are given preferential picks for the following draft. However the picks are not allocated in direct correlation to the previous season’s standings, with a lottery process used to add an element of uncertainty.

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The 14 NBA teams that don’t reach the playoffs are entered into a draw to decide picks 1-14 in the following season’s draft. The picks aren’t entirely random, however, and there is a weighting system at play. The three teams with the worst records have a 14% chance of receiving the No. 1 pick, while the team with the 14th-worst record has a 0.5% chance of picking first.

With that in mind, the Atlanta Hawks overcame big odds to land the No. 1 overall pick. Their 2023/24 record gave them just a 3% chance of coming away with the top pick. Team manager Landry Fields will have been working tirelessly over the offseason to ensure that the Hawks make the most of their stroke of luck. We’ll have to wait until Wednesday night to find out how they use it.