The Atlanta Hawks are in a bit of a weird situation, roster building-wise, following their decision to trade Dejounte Murray away to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., and a future first-round pick. They have embraced the youth movement with much more open arms, and yet there are a few players on the team that could block playing time off from their youngsters, namely De'Andre Hunter and Clint Capela.
It's quite well known that the Hawks have been dangling Hunter in potential trades for quite some time now. However, the major concern surrounding any prospective trade involving the 26-year-old forward is his expensive contract (relative to his production) that runs for a few more years, thereby precluding any deal, perhaps involving the Los Angeles Lakers, from materializing.
“This is a hypothetical discussion, but based on the situation. I'll just say that we know the Hawks have been looking to unload De'Andre Hunter. Who is owed about 22 [million] this year, 23 next year, 25 the year after that. That's not a great contract. Is it worth a team like the Lakers taking on that contract in what would be a financially motivated move for the Hawks?” Tim MacMahon of ESPN said in an appearance on The Hoop Collective podcast.
De'Andre Hunter, at first glance, looks like a player who could be of immense help to teams with contending ambitions. Hunter is a 6'8″ forward who's in the middle of the prime years of his career, and he shot 38.5 percent from beyond the arc last season with the Hawks.
However, Hunter doesn't do nearly enough in the other facets of the game to justify his contract worth $20+ million per year over the next three seasons. This has given teams who have shown interest in trading for Hunter some pause, with the Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks, to name a few, looking elsewhere instead.
But with Zaccharie Risacher being the Hawks' number one developmental priority on the wing, not to mention Jalen Johnson's presence at the four, it will be a tough pill to swallow for Atlanta to bring a player making as much money as Hunter is off the bench. Regardless, they might be stuck with Hunter given the circumstances.
Can the Hawks defy expectations next season?
The past two seasons have been disappointing for the Hawks. Bringing Dejounte Murray in hasn't yielded the success the front office thought the move would, so they cut their losses and started over. Now, many expect that the Hawks will be remaining in their mediocre ways for next season.
However, the Hawks might be a much-better team than expected for next season. Trae Young is still at the controls, and now that he won't have to share ballhandling duties with Murray, he could, perhaps, average career-high numbers as the heliocentric source of the team's offense.
Young would then be flanked by athletic, defensive-minded players who would make his life on that end of the floor that much easier. Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher are lengthy wings who could cover a ton of ground, while Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu comprise a very athletic frontcourt.
Off the bench, the Hawks have Bogdan Bogdanovic leading the way, with De'Andre Hunter providing a pinch of 3-and-D play, while Kobe Bufkin could be ready for minutes in Year 2. Do not sleep on the Hawks.
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