Trade Grades Hawks

Trade Grades: Kyle Korver

1/16/2017

Click here for link to Cleveland Cavaliers Trade Grades

Cavaliers get: SG/SF Kyle Korver
Hawks get: SG/SF Mike Dunleavy, PG Mo Williams, protected 2019 first-rounder

It remains unclear as to exactly why GM Wes Wilcox felt obliged to make this trade: Atlanta is currently sitting pretty at fourth in the East, but nonetheless slightly downgraded here at shooting guard in exchange for the future first-rounder -- the type of move that's generally made by tanking teams rather than competing teams. But overall, really, the only edge that Korver has on Dunleavy at this stage in his career is that the former is connecting on 40.9% of his long balls, compared to Dunleavy's 35.1% -- both of which are in fact efficient marks.

Thus the motive of this trade remains confusing. It wasn't even as if Atlanta could easily afford to downgrade on the wing: their best wingman, Kent Bazemore, has been greatly disappointing thus far this season, and the best depth behind him at either shooting guard or small forward consists of Tim Hardaway Jr. (a mild pleasant surprise this season) and Thabo Sefolosha. If anything, major upgrades were needed on the Hawks' wing (pun intended).

Still, in terms of the raw value of sacrificing 5.8 percentage three-point percentage points for a future first-rounder, and a point guard in Mo Williams who might be a solid backup when healthy next season, Atlanta came out just fine.

Grade: B+

0 Comments

Jeff Teague

6/25/2016

0 Comments

Trade Grades
Click here for link to Indiana Pacers Trade Grades
Click here for link to Utah Jazz Trade Grades

Pacers get: PG Jeff Teague
Jazz get: PG George Hill
Hawks get: #12 overall draft pick (via Utah) [SF Taurean Prince, Sophomore, Baylor]

There was some logic in the concept of moving Teague, I’ll give Hawks GM Danny Ferry that. Emerging young PG Dennis Schroder played fantastic last season in limited minutes, and with Teague’s $8 million contract expiring after this season and the team unlikely to have any desire to re-sign him given Schroder’s presence, trading him away now was the right call. Additionally, receiving a lottery pick gave Ferry increased flexibility on how he wanted to replace Teague -- both in that he can draft any type of player he wanted, as well as open financial flexibility.

But while this idea of keeping his options opened in that regard is true, it also isn’t necessarily true from a certain point of view. Ferry clearly went for youth on this trade, trading away a veteran in favor of a youngster in Schroder, while also acquiring a draft pick for said veteran. But Atlanta’s next three best players -- C Al Horford, PF Paul Millsap, and SG Kyle Korver, are already 30, 31, and 35 years of age respectively. Horford is also a free agent this summer, and Millsap (as well as Korver) the next. Is Ferry planning to re-sign them? How do you expect to hand the reigns of your franchise to players who are nearly a decade apart in age? Perhaps bringing back a more established veteran on the wing would have made more sense if Ferry plans to try and keep Horford around this summer; if not, however, then that’s a separate discussion.

Yet I might have been more sympathetic to Ferry’s cause had he utilized his pick more effectively. Given the uncertain long-term status of both Horford and Millsap -- with their age and upcoming free agencies and all -- adding another big man would have made a lot of sense. I understand that three important ones -- Poeltl, Maker, and Sabonis -- had all just been selected at 9 through 11 before Atlanta was on the clock at #12, but there were still a pair of intriguing prospects on the board in big men Skal Labissiere and Henry Ellenson that Ferry probably should’ve taken a shot at. I get that Taurean Prince’s “three and D” style fits right into Coach Budenholzer’s system as SF DeMarre Carroll’s potential replacement, but Prince lacks any star upside -- which is exactly what the Hawks need, and furthermore, what you would expect from a lottery pick. If Ferry really wanted to go with a wing, I would suggest Turkish SG Furkan Korkmaz -- an excellent shooter with deep range with star potential. To be honest, although I’m usually a fan of Ferry’s genius, I’m not really so hot on this Teague-for-Prince swap.

Grade: C

0 Comments

Kirk Hinrich

6/22/2016

0 Comments

Trade Grades
Click here for link to Utah Jazz Trade Grades
Click here for link to Chicago Bulls Trade Grades

Hawks get: SG Kirk Hinrich
Jazz get: PG Shelvin Mack
Bulls get: SG Justin Holiday, second-rounder (via Utah)

Ummm... ok? It was beyond obvious that Atlanta was overloaded at point guard, with Mack, Jeff Teague, and the emerging Dennis Schroder, so trading Mack wasn't a bad idea. So what do the Hawks do to clear up a positional logjam at point guard? They add to an already pre-existing positional logjam at shooting guard! Seriously, I mean, Kyle Korver, Kent Bazemore, Thabo Sefolosha, and Tim Hardaway Jr. are already more than enough wing players. In addition, Hinrich isn't much of an upgrade over Mack as a player, as the two guards are averaging just 3.8 and 3.9 points per game, respectively. What was the point of this trade exactly?

Grade: B-

0 Comments

Tiago Splitter

6/22/2016

0 Comments

Trade Grades
Click here for link to San Antonio Spurs Trade Grades

Hawks get: C/PF Tiago Splitter
Spurs get: Rights to Georgios Printezis, top 55 protected 2017 second-round pick (a.k.a: nothing)

This trade is just purely logical from Atlanta’s point of view: if you could give up next to nothing in exchange for filling a need, why wouldn’t you? The Hawks had a lack of depth behind PF Paul Millsap and C/PF Al Horford up front, and a quality big man like Splitter is exactly what they needed. His 2 year/$16.75 million remaining on hiscontract is fair considering the rapidly rising salary cap, and Splitter also delivered a solid 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in just 19.8 minutes per game with the Spurs last season. The only doubt here is if they could’ve used the money from Splitter’s contract to keep SF DeMarre Carroll from Toronto, but since we don’t know whether or not that would’ve been the case and as Atlanta did a decent job replacing Carroll, we’ll give the Hawks a pass there.

Grade: B+

0 Comments

Tim Hardaway Jr.

6/22/2016

0 Comments

Trade Grades
Click here for link to Washington Wizards Trade Grade
Click here for link to New York Knicks Trade Grade

Gave up: #15 pick in draft (turned into SF Kelly Oubre Jr.)
Got: Two future second-rounders, SG Tim Hardaway Jr.

Though PG/SG Jerian Grant was in-between for the Hawks, I will just be grading who Atlanta gave up and what they got in return. SF Kelly Oubre probably shouldn’t have gone 15th overall, as he was more of a top-20 prospect than a top-15 one, but that doesn’t concern the Hawks. For a team that had the best record in the East just last season, the motive of acquiring two future second-rounders is questionable. Although there was a relatively steep drop-off in talent from #14 to #15, simply selecting Wisconsin’s SF Sam Dekker would’ve probably just made more sense here, as Hardaway Jr. is far from an optimal fit in Atlanta.

I liked the idea of trading down for the Hawks, as they clearly weren’t wowed by anyone available at #15, but two future second-rounders is not what this championship-caliber roster needs as they moved down to #19.Oubre Jr. is probably a long-term project, as his ability to contribute right away is minimal. However, he is still anexcellent defender with solid shooting ability. He’s quick and athletic, which give him the potential he needs to become an excellent slasher, although he will need to improve his lackluster ball-handling skills for that. Oubre Jr. never really made sense for Atlanta anyways, but I really don’t like the package that they netted in exchange for him.

Tim Hardaway Jr. is of course the son of an all-time great, and after his impressive rookie campaign, it was looking like he’d follow in his father’s footsteps. He hit 1.6 threes on a blazing 36.2% on them, as part of his 10.8 points per game en route to being named to the All-Rookie First Team. However, he has shown a lack of improvement in year two, actually just plateauing completely, which is alarming. Hardaway averaged 11.5 points and 34.2% shooting from downtown this past season. He’s just 23 years old, so he could still possess some upside, but there is risk that he’ll just level out with the current skillset he has, given his lack of development since his rookie year. He alsodoesn’t really mesh well with Atlanta’s offensive style, as “ball movement” and and “selflessness” aren’t exactly his middle names. It will be interesting to see if he could carve out a role for himself as a spark scorer off the bench in the Hawks’ now crowded backcourt.

To be honest, if you’re going to give up a top-15 pick, you better make sure you get assets that you’d actually want, and players that fit with you well and fill a need. Atlanta got neither. Although this deal is probably a wash for the Hawks, acquiring a risky, ball-dominant, scoring two-guard and future draft picks are the furthest things from filling needs, which Atlanta had both at small forward and up front.

Grade: C+

0 Comments

Adreian Payne

6/22/2016

0 Comments

Trade Grades

Timberwolves get: PF Adreian Payne
Hawks get: 2017 first-round draft pick (lottery protected from 2017-2020; if not conveyed, turns into second-rounder)

This is very unlike GM Danny Ferry, as in it’s not an amazing trade. In fact, it’s a pretty bad one. The pick the Hawks received, as discussed under Minnesota, is fairly worthless. It is guaranteed to be either 15th or higher, or else non-existent, and the earliest it can come is 2017. The reason I bring this up is because Payne was taken with the 15th pick this year. Despite a very disappointing rookie season in which the MSU product has only played a grand total of 19 minutes, he still oozes potential, even at 23. A leader for a successful Michigan State team at college, Payne averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in his senior year. Any trades, considering how successful the Hawks team currently is, deserve serious questioning, but selling-low and giving up so early on a rookie with no rush to do so just doesn't make any sense.

Grade: C-

0 Comments

Atlanta Hawks: Trade Grades

Trade Grades: Kyle Korver

Jeff Teague

Kirk Hinrich

Tiago Splitter

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Adreian Payne

Author

Archives

Categories