The Atlanta Hawks have become a popular hypothetical trade destination for superstar talent that could become available. Giannis Antetokounmpo, amid the Milwaukee Bucks' mess, has been commonly linked to the Hawks. But with a bombshell from Shams Charania in recent days stating that the Dallas Mavericks will indeed be exploring the trade market for Anthony Davis, the Hawks are gaining the luxury of choice.
Davis would cost less than Antetokounmpo in a trade due to a combination of factors. He's older, more injury-prone, and is overall a huge risk to take on for a team on the rise such as the Hawks. This makes him a less appealing trade target, but the Hawks could play it safer if they were to pursue Davis instead.
Nonetheless, the Hawks will have competition for Davis' services, with teams such as the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors also expected to throw their hat into the ring for the Mavericks big man. Moreover, they may not want to mess with their current roster, as they have the luxury of waiting out the return of Trae Young from a knee injury to see just how well the team would work at full strength.
But this exercise is meant to analyze what kind of package it would take for the Hawks to pry Davis away and whether it would be worth it for them to do so.
Hawks' trade package for Anthony Davis
Hawks trade: Trae Young, Zaccharie Risacher, Luke Kennard, 2027 first-round pick (worse of NOP/MIL)
Mavericks trade: Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Max Christie
If the Mavericks were to trade Davis away, they may prefer to get a package filled with young players and draft picks. Trading him away would mean that Dallas is pivoting towards more of a youth movement built around Cooper Flagg. But there is also plenty of merit to remaining semi-competitive.
For starters, the Mavericks do not control their first-round picks from 2027 to 2031. While this gives them room to tank for a good pick this season, they will have to put up competitive seasons for the next five years to avoid forking over good picks to teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs — teams that don't need any further help in the roster-building process.
This makes the package that the Hawks would offer above that much more appealing. It is kind of poetic that Young would be heading to the Mavericks in a trade tree that can be traced back to himself (Young was traded on draft night for Luka Doncic, who was then traded for Davis, who would then be traded for Young in this scenario).
While Young is not the superstar that Doncic is, he helps solve so much of the Mavericks' guard woes. Now, once Kyrie Irving returns, the Mavs will find themselves in a pickle. But Young will always retain a healthy portion of his trade value, which means that Dallas can always trade him for more pieces if they decide to commit their future to Irving instead.
But Irving is already 33 years of age, and he's coming off a torn ACL. There is no way the Mavs would want to choose Irving over Young in a scenario where they would want to walk the fine line between remaining competitive and developing their youngsters. Young would then function similarly to a Doncic role where he commandeers so much of the offense, and Dallas should still have a roster filled with lower-usage, non-ball dominant role players who could then thrive under the captainship of Young.
Nonetheless, getting Young as the centerpiece in any Davis trade would mean that the Mavericks will be content with not getting much draft compensation. Young gets so much disrespect nowadays, but he is a perennial 25-10 player who can set up his teammates with the best of them.
Trading Young away will not sit well with Hawks fans, and understandably so. The Hawks, without Young, are just outside the top-10 in both offensive and defensive rating. Getting Young back would be a detriment to their defense considering how solid Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have been, but he relieves so much of the burden from both Alexander-Walker and Johnson on the offensive end that Atlanta's ceiling is so much higher with their star point guard.
But this Hawks team is pivoting towards a more defensive identity, and having Davis around would allow them to play supersized lineups that can overwhelm the opposition.
Others may float trade ideas that involve Kristaps Porzingis as the centerpiece of the package that will be heading to Dallas. But the Mavericks would simply hold on to Davis if that were to be the case. Porzingis is saddled with a chronic illness that requires him to miss games every now and then, and his contract is expiring. He's not going to be staying in Dallas as well, considering his history with the team.
There is also no way the Hawks would be parting ways with the New Orleans Pelicans' 2026 first-round pick; they're one of the worst teams in the league, after all.
Added instead with Young in the Hawks' trade package would be Zaccharie Risacher and Luke Kennard, as well as a 2027 first-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks or New Orleans Pelicans. That 2027 draft pick could be another high lottery pick even though that selection is the worse of either team's.
Risacher has not been very good in his sophomore season, and at this point, he's not looking the part of a future star. But the Mavericks should want him in any trade scenario to perhaps try and mold another former first overall pick into a true franchise cornerstone. Kennard is simply around to make salaries work.
Coming to Atlanta with Davis are Klay Thompson and Max Christie. Christie has put up stretches of excellent two-way, 3-and-D play, and he'll be an invaluable member of the Hawks' rotation. Thompson is a battle-tested sniper who could help the Hawks mount a deep playoff run.
With Porzingis staying in Atlanta, the Hawks can run a starting lineup of Daniels, Alexander-Walker, Johnson, Davis, and Porzingis, with Onyeka Okongwu, Christie, Thompson, Mo Gueye, and Vit Krejci completing the rotation. That can be a headache of a team to deal with.
