Editors note: With the Hawks holding the No. 1 pick in the coming NBA draft, there are plenty of opinions on what the team should do with the selection. Each week before the draft June 26, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will present one opinion. This week: Marc Spears from ESPN.
In one month, the world will learn what the Hawks will do with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Should the Hawks opt to keep the top pick, they would provide their latest draftee an ideal situation.
Though questions remain about what the Hawks will do with their backcourt tandem of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, a talented core of players remain. As of now, NBA mock drafts have linked Alexandre Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher to the Hawks.
ESPN’s NBA reporter Marc Spears highlighted why that core could take pressure off a rookie in this week’s episode of the Hawks Report podcast presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In fact, the Hawks could be the perfect landing spot for Sarr because of the pieces currently on the roster.
“Oh, he should be excited to go to the Hawks because this isn’t a Caitlin Clark-Indiana Fever situation, where you’re going into one of the worst teams and trying to turn it around,” Spears said. “You’re going somewhere, where the team’s already good.
“You got Trae. You got Dejounte. You got some talented young players – (Jalen) Johnson, right. Shoot that. I mean, he’s in a much better position than when he was a year ago.”
While the Hawks finished 10 games below a .500 record, they remained competitive in the face of several injuries to key players and had several rotational players show growth.
For Spears, Sarr has a skill set that Hawks fans should be excited about.
Last September, Spears covered a game between G League Ignite and the NBL’s Perth Wildcats, who traveled from Australia. In the Wildcats’ 127-112 win over G League Ignite, Sarr wowed Spears with his 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six blocks.
“If you’re a Hawks fan, you need to go on YouTube and watch these two games,” Spears said. “Like the dude is 7-1. He runs the floor, like an athletic, small forward. He could guard wings at 7-1. Listen what I’m saying. He can guard wings at 7-1. He could shoot 3′s. He blocked shots, he catches alley oops. He’ll dunk on people. There’s a lot there. And I don’t even think he’s reached the ceiling.”
Sarr could begin that work to get to his ceiling right away. The French national team did select Sarr nor Risacher for this year’s Olympics, which would give them the chance to head to their new team market and work there for the summer.
“For both of them, I’m sure they will be in the future,” Spears said. “I mean, obviously Wemby is on the team, but those two guys aren’t. So, if you draft one of them then they’ll probably be there all summer. They’ll be at Summer League. It’s not like you’re not going to see him until training camp after he gets a break. He’ll be yours once you draft him.”
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