With the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft in the books, it only makes sense for there to be some reactions to everything that went down last night. There was some action, and definitely some unique choices, but nothing too controversial.
Amid this, one NBA analyst was crystal clear on which team he believed made the “worst” pick after the first round concluded.
Kevin O’Connor Believes the Atlanta Hawks Made the Worst Pick in the First Round
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor believes the Atlanta Hawks made the worst pick in the first round. Not to fret, Hawks fans, because that’s not in reference to drafting Kingston Flemings with the No. 8 pick, but actually taking Zuby Ejiofor with the No. 23 pick.
He also made it clear that he picked Ejiofor in part because no team made bad decisions last night.
“And the worst pick in the first round, to me, it’s a good first round overall. Not a lot of bad picks, so this isn’t necessarily a shot at Atlanta, but Zuby Ejiofor with the 23rd pick, I would have liked to see the Hawks take a big center,” O’Connor said.
.@KevinOConnor on the worst pick of Round 1 of the NBA Draft 👀 pic.twitter.com/P4lArR4AUg
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 24, 2026
“Drafting a guy that is smaller, six-eight, six-nine, that plays a a little bit like Onyeka Okongwu without the jumper. I’m a little surprised there for Atlanta. I think they need a true five.”
The Hawks’ frontcourt depth doomed them in their playoff series against the New York Knicks, as their best players in that department were Okongwu and Jock Landale.
They once had Kristaps Porziņģis, but his unavailability proved too big a problem, so they dumped him for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.
It is a little bit of a curious pick on the Hawks’ part. It could also mean they believe it would be better to address that need in free agency rather than in the draft.
Quite a few quality big men will be unrestricted free agents this summer, including Mitchell Robinson, Robert Williams III, and Nikola Vučević.
Atlanta is coming off a pretty exciting latter half of the season and can hold their heads high, knowing no one else in the NBA gave the Knicks the same fight they did. In fact, they were the only ones who had a lead on them at 2-1 before losing three consecutive games.
The only way to know for sure what they were thinking with Ejiofor is to see what product they put on the floor next season. Perhaps what would make them feel better is seeing him paired up with one of the aforementioned free agents.
