NBA Draft: Each team’s greatest draft pick of all-time

Greatest draft pick in Atlanta Hawks history: Pete Maravich

The underrated career of Pete Maravich is something of folklore at this point in time, without much footage to reference for a guy who was, in fact, one of the greatest scoring threats of his generation.

The man they called Pistol Pete was a wizard with the ball in his hands, always looking to make a play in the most creative manner possible. To see him dribble the ball down the court on the fastbreak was to know you were likely a mere seconds away from seeing something truly beautiful.

He would pull up from just about anywhere without any sort of hesitation, catching defenders off guard. Keep in mind, the prime of his career was before the 3-point line even came into existence. There are those, however, who claim he was shooting from well beyond the imaginary arc even back then.

The scoring binges he would go on were something to behold, including a 68 point game in the latter half of his career, the 13th highest mark in NBA history.

Maravich was also as well rounded a player as there was in the 1970s. He averaged 24.3 points, 5.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds as a member of the Atlanta Hawks for four seasons, leading them to three consecutive appearances in the conference semi-finals.

Atlanta took him No. 3 overall in the 1970 Draft, and it’s clear to see it was a wise decision. Had he played in the current NBA, there’s no telling the type of numbers and highlights he’d muster up on a nightly basis. He’ll simply have to settle for his era, where he still played well enough to make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame.