The Atlanta Hawks are seeking their first championship since 1958, which is their only ring in the franchise's history. The Hawks have produced a bevy of iconic players from various eras, but it is curious to know which of these individuals were actually drafted by their organization.

Ironically, some names like Dominque Wilkins or Trae Young were drafted by other teams, but they're well-known for their stints with the Hawks. Conversely, there are some draftees by the Hawks organization that did not suit up for Atlanta but were selected by their franchise on draft night.

With that, here are the 10 best draft picks in franchise history.

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10. Kevin Willis

Kevin Willis spent more than half of his NBA career with the Atlanta Hawks after being selected 11th overall in the 1984 NBA Draft. Willis is known for banging bodies inside and manufacturing points on the other end as well.

Rebounding and defending is his major asset as his career high in rebounds is 15.5 RPG in the 1991-1992 All-Star season. Willis is known for bouncing around across numerous teams during the latter part of his career, but his best years will always be donning the Atlanta uniform with the aforementioned Dominique Wilkins.

9. David Thompson

David Thompson was the first overall pick of Atlanta in the 1975 NBA Draft, but it was reported by the New York Times that Thompson was unable to sign with the squad because of their lack of financial resources. Since Thompson is known for his excellent scoring and high-flying prowess, it was the Denver Nuggets from the ABA that took the chance on him.

In his first season with Denver, Thompson played close to 40 MPG and tallied an average of 26 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.6 STL, and 1.2 BLK. He claimed the Rookie of the Year award and had a successful NBA career for eight more seasons after that.

8. Lenny Wilkens

Lenny Wilkens is the first name in this article that was selected by the St. Louis Hawks, where the franchise played before it relocated to Atlanta. Wilkens is known more to the younger fans as a coach, but he also had a superb career as a player as he was inducted as a Hall of Famer twice.

Wilkens was enshrined in 1989 as a player and in 1998 as a head coach. He played eight seasons for St. Louis, but he was unable to catapult the squad to the championship. Despite that, Wilkens is still a 9-time All-Star and finished second to Wilt Chamberlain in MVP balloting in his last year with St. Louis.

7. Lou Hudson

“Sweet” Lou Hudson as is he usually called was a straight-up bucket when he was in the NBA as he scored almost 18,000 markers in his 13 years in the Association. 11 of those seasons were with the St. Louis and Atlanta Hawks, wherein he was selected to six All-Star game appearances.

Hudson's best season was in the 1969-70 season wherein he received the All-NBA award as he posted numbers of 25.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 3.5 APG. One can argue that Hudson was ahead of his time but his scoring prowess will stand out.

6. Pete Maravich

Speaking of scoring and racking up buckets, Pete Maravich is the best man to exemplify going on a rampage of points. Maravich averaged 24.2 PPG in his 10 years in the league with the best mark coming in the 1976-77 with the New Orleans Jazz wherein he tallied 31.1 PPG.

Before moving to the Jazz, Maravich started with the Atlanta Hawks wherein he was selected to two of his five career All-Star appearances. Pairing him up with “Sweet” Lou Hudson in the perimeter was a headache for opposing defenses.

5. Bob Cousy

Bob Cousy was chosen fourth overall by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in the 1950 NBA Draft. Cousy was known for his spectacular years with the Boston Celtics but little do fans know that he is in the NBA because of the Hawks franchise.

Cousy established a driving school in Massachusetts, and he did not want to leave the city to play basketball. Due to his incredible talent, he was able to convince owner Walter A. Brown and head coach Red Auerbach to sign him. Cousy went on to lead the assists in the Association for eight successive seasons from 1953-1960.

4. Pau Gasol

Similar to Cousy, Pau Gasol was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the top five, but his draft rights were immediately traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jamaal Tinsley. Right at the onset, it turned out to be a massive mistake as Gasol was the Rookie of the Year in his first season in the NBA.

After having a sensational individual career with the Grizzlies, he was eventually traded to the Los Angeles Lakers where he paired up with Kobe Bryant and claimed two elusive championships. Those two rings solidified his case to be inducted in the Hall of Fame just last summer with guys like Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki.

3. Bob Pettit

Arguably the best homegrown player to don the Hawks jersey is LSU forward Bob Pettit. He is known to play 11 seasons with the St. Louis Hawks as he averaged an amazing 26.4 PPG in all those years. Pettit was an All-Star for every single season of his career, which is a phenomenal feat for any basketball player from any era. Additionally, Pettit was the All-Star Game MVP for four of those 11 years.

Even if he is not that known to the casual NBA pundits since he played in the 50s and 60s, Pettit was known to be a fantastic scorer from all over the floor. His low field goal percentage may have been out of necessity, but it is also his rebounding that is startling as he averaged 16.2 RPG in his 11 years in the NBA. To cap it off, Pettit was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970 and was named to all four NBA anniversary teams as well.

2. Luka Doncic

This mistake or blunder of the Atlanta Hawks will always come back to haunt them as they drafted Luka Doncic with the third overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft. It was already shocking to see Doncic drop to number three in the draft, so the Hawks must have kept him rather than acquiring Trae Young and a protected first-round pick for the following year.

In Doncic's first five years in the NBA, he has been selected to four All-Star Games already, and he has earned four All-NBA awards as well. In the 2022-23 season, Doncic averaged a whopping 32.4 PPG supplemented with 8.6 RPG and 8.0 APG. He is on a tear, and the trajectory is for Luka Doncic to have a legendary and Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

1. Bill Russell

Speaking of the stratosphere that Doncic would want to attain by the end of his career, it would be the level of success that Bill Russell achieved in his basketball journey. Even before he entered the NBA, Russell was a two-time champion with the University of Francisco, so it was inevitable for the St. Louis Hawks to draft him second overall in the 1956 NBA Draft.

Similar to the enormous mistake of Atlanta in trading Doncic, St. Louis did the same with Russell as they traded him to the Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan. There is no question that this trade was one of the most vital ones in sports history as Russell went on to win 11 championships with the Celtics and was arguably one of the best defenders in the history of the sport.