Atlanta Hawks: 5 reasons they won’t make the playoffs in 2017-18

1. Capitalize on current draft lottery system

The Atlanta Hawks haven’t selected in the lottery since 2007, when the team chose Al Horford with the third overall pick and selected Acie Law III with the 11th choice.

Starting in 2019, the team with the most losses will no longer have a 25 percent chance of landing the first overall pick in the draft, as the league passed a reformation that reduces the incentive of losing regular season games.

Instead, the teams with the three worst records in the league will all have a 40 percent chance of lading a top-3 selection, in place of a staggered chance based on the number of losses.

This means the Hawks’ last guaranteed chance of a prominent pick in the NBA Draft will come in 2018, when the team is experiencing a massive rebuilding effort.

If the team opens the year with a dismal performance on the road, as Atlanta won’t play a home game until its sixth game of the season, there may not be much incentive for the team to turn the season around.

Next: Top 10 candidates for 2017-18 Defensive Player of the Year

The Hawks are expected to struggle in 2017-18, and with draft lottery reform rapidly approaching, mounting losses won’t provide any benefit past this season. They might as well capitalize now and look forward to a top selection in a draft class that’s loaded in the top five.