The Hawks‘ plans for an offseason roster shakeup won’t include trading De’Andre Hunter, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
At one time, Atlanta was thought to be willing to part with anyone except Trae Young, but Fischer reports that the team now plans keep Hunter and try to work out a contract extension. The 24-year-old small forward has dealt with injuries throughout his first three NBA seasons, but he has been a full-time starter when healthy.
The Hawks are pursuing numerous trades with the goals of finding a reliable guard to play alongside Young and creating a larger role for second-year big man Onyeka Okongwu, Fischer adds. Atlanta has been mentioned as a possible destination for Jazz center Rudy Gobert, with Clint Capela, John Collins, Kevin Huerter and the No. 16 pick in next week’s draft all considered potential trade chips.
Fischer points out that Utah CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge has pursued a deal for Capela before. According to Fischer’s sources, when Ainge was running the Celtics in 2019, he talked to the Rockets on draft night about swapping Marcus Smart and the No. 22 pick to land Capela. The trade was agreed to in principle, but it fell through when the Grizzlies selected Houston target Brandon Clarke at No. 21.
Collins could also be an option for the Trail Blazers, who are looking to deal the seventh pick in the draft for veteran help, Fischer adds. If Atlanta acquires that pick, G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels will likely be the target, Fischer’s sources say.
The Hawks have been seeking backcourt help for several years, Fischer adds. They tried to acquire CJ McCollum and Goran Dragic before this year’s deadline and have been involved in talks involving Zach LaVine and Bradley Beal. They also discussed a deal with the Pelicans about Jrue Holiday before he was moved to Milwaukee.
No brainer to lock Dre up long term. Also a no brainer to hold onto JC. All this talk of us trading John reminds of how certain all these same writers & fans were that Gallo would start ahead of him when we signed Gallo a couple yrs ago
I remember thinking it was foolish to have Gallo start with his injury history and lack of defense. He’s a way better 6th man/bench scorer.
Plus the fact that JC was coming off consecutive 20/10 seasons as a 22yo. Even prime Gallo wouldn’t start over him
Trae Young/Dre Hunter, Shareef Abdur-Rahim/Jason Terry, Nique Wilkins/Kevin Willis or Joe Johnson/Al Horford, which duo would you choose if you could have them for their whole career? Rank if possible…
Steve Smith/Dikembe Mutombo is the 5th option
1. Nique & Willis
2. Trae & Dre
3. Smith & Mutombo
4. Iso & Big Al
5. Shareef & JET
Tough picks though
Great list. I gotta be honest tho I always think of Al Jefferson as Big Al tho lol
Hunter should hunt for 4-year $60 million contract
True value
4- year $40 million
Market value
4-year $60 million
Clarke would have rocked as a starter in Houston rather than falling into the Griz’s laps, who already had JJJ. Clarke was projected to go sooner, so just a value pick for the Griz.
And the Celtis may have had a title already with Capelo! Maybe with him onboard they don’t draft Timelord then…
I like these old stories with their what-ifs!
All those missed trades leads one to think that the Hawks aren’t very good at negotiating headline trades? I guess we can rule out the Hawks as a Gobert destination. ;-)
Either that or they didn’t pursue those guys nearly as much as is being portrayed. If the Hawks wanted Dragic we easily could have got him. Why would we have wanted him tho? DWright was clearly better. But yea u can go ahead & rule out Rudy if it would take giving up John Collins. Plus a mid 1st & a guy that’s basically just as good as Rudy lol that would be ridiculous
Possibly rule it out. Although, it sounds like lately things have heated up again.
Then again, if Hunter has been injured 3 years in a row, why would the Jazz want to risk that? They already dealt with Exum’s reoccurring injuries for years. Injury prone guys, no matter how talented, are rarely worth the risk.
Look at the Lakers. They got only one solid year out of AD after making that huge trade. Sure, they got a title out of it, but the next year they completely missed the playoffs and play-in tournament. That’s about as big of a turnaround as it gets.
The Jazz have been inconsistent this year and lost in the playoffs last year because of injuries.
I’m sure the Clippers aren’t too happy with KL and PG-13 missing so many games. They’re stuck in a holding pattern every year now.