NBA Rumors: Hawks' Salary Cap Eyed by Execs Amid No. 1 Pick Trade Speculation

The Atlanta Hawks landed the No. 1 pick in Sunday's 2024 NBA draft lottery, but the prize comes with something of a catch.

ESPN's Jonathan Givony, Jeremy Woo and Bobby Marks reported on the situation on Tuesday and noted executives around the league pointed out Atlanta moving up nine spots from its expected draft position to end up at No. 1 will have quite the financial implication.

"Because the NBA operates with a sliding rookie scale based on when a player is selected, Atlanta is set to increase their payroll by an additional $7 million (the first pick is $12.6 million compared to $5.5 million for a player selected 10th)," they explained. "This matters because Atlanta now has $175.9 million in salary and is projected to be in the luxury tax for the first time since 2010-11."

The Hawks are already $2.2 million above the first salary cap apron thanks to bonuses for De'Andre Hunter, Dejounte Murray and Clint Capela, and keeping restricted free agent Saddiq Bey would mean moving over the second apron.

This would all be worth it if there was a franchise-altering prospect available in this draft, a la Victor Wembanyama last year.

Unfortunately for Atlanta, the 2024 NBA draft class is considered one of the worst in recent memory. John Hollinger of The Athletic noted "the consensus among talent evaluators is that this is the worst draft since 2013, when Anthony Bennett was the top pick and the final 33 selections produced just three rotation players."

That's surely not what the Hawks want to hear as they decide this offseason what to do with the No. 1 pick and whether to even keep the Trae Young and Dejounte Murray combination together in the backcourt.

Perhaps a Young trade amid circulating rumors will provide more clarity for the financial picture and the overall direction the franchise wants to take.

For now, the focus is on who the Hawks will take with the No. 1 pick. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected big man Alex Sarr to be the first selection in his latest mock draft and highlighted his interior defense and overall versatility.

Someone like that would provide important defensive help if ball-handlers get past Young and could be the anchor to Atlanta's frontcourt for years to come.

But the financial picture is still something the front office will have to sort through and it makes its decision.