The NBA (and NBA trade rumors) never stops. While the young Atlanta Hawks toiled in the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, NBA GMs worked around the clock (some more than others) to improve their teams.
One team that worked exceptionally hard was the Toronto Raptors, who pulled off the biggest coup of the 2018 offseason by trading for the biggest fish other than LeBron James: The Raptors have acquired Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green for DeMar Derozan, Jakob Poetl and a protected 2019 first round pick.
The Hawks have also recently made an interesting and surprising trade for Jeremy Lin, but otherwise they have remained relatively quiet this offseason.
That might change, however, after some recent reporting came to light via Mitch Lawrence of Sirius XM Radio claiming that the Hawks are in talks with the Oklahoma City Thunder to trade both Dennis Schröder and Mike Muscala to the Thunder for Carmelo Anthony.
Oklahoma City and Atlanta in trade talks, with Thunder targeting Dennis Schroder and Mike Muscala, per sources. Carmelo Anthony would go to Atlanta, with Hawks doing buyout. Atl looking to add asset to make Melo’s buyout a wash. Getting rid of Schroder is No. 1 priority.
— Mitch Lawrence (@Mitch_Lawrence) July 18, 2018
After the Hawks acquired Lin, the writing was definitely on the wall for DS17, as both Lin and #5 overall pick Trae Young could ably slot into the starting point guard role for Atlanta.
Earlier in the offseason, Schröd expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of the Hawks franchise (i.e. he didn’t want to stick around for a rebuild), and the Hawks also moved on from the only coach he’s ever played for, Mike Budenholzer.
With all that in mind, we’ve outlined a potential deal that could work for both sides – especially if the reporting turns out to be factual.