3 winners and losers of the shocking 2024 NBA Draft Lottery

Winner: Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks were the clear winners of the draft lottery. They made the play-in tournament, lost, and were able to keep their lottery pick, which jumped up from 11th to 1st overall. That dramatic shift could alter the franchise's plans going forward, with them deciding to hold onto Trae Young and Dejounte Murray for another season and see if whoever they select overall can make an immediate impact.

Ironically, this draft doesn't have a clear top prospect that could dramatically change their trajectory, at least this season. Still, having the number one pick gives them options. They might be able to trade the number-one pick for two first-rounders, with several teams having multiple selections.

Or maybe they take a more aggressive approach and trade either Young or Murray and see if they can build a better team around whoever they select first overall in a few seasons. Without control of their first-round picks in 2025, 2026, and 2027, that will be tougher to do but not impossible.

Deciding who will go first will be hard, given that there aren't any clear choices but something similar happened back in 2021 when the Orlando Magic surprisingly took Paulo Banchero first overall and he quickly turned into a star. Perhaps the Hawks will have the same luck.