Potential Kent Bazemore Trade Looms Over Atlanta Hawks
After a flurry of moves this offseason including trading for Jeremy Lin and getting rid of franchise incumbent Dennis Schröder, the Atlanta Hawks feel fulfilled by an offseason that saw Travis Schlenk and company put his imprint on the team.
Even with plenty of roster moves this offseason, the Atlanta Hawks shouldn’t be done making moves this summer. Kent Bazemore and his ginormous contract still look a bit out of place on this roster and getting rid of it should be the point of emphasis for the rest of the offseason and heading into the preseason.
The good news is that Baze is a slightly better asset and some would say much better asset than Schroder. Schroder’s value had plummeted in the eyes of many due to his locker room issues and potential felonies off the court along with being an inefficient shooter and lackluster defender on the court.
Baze is one of the most valuable types of player in today’s NBA, a 3-and-D wing. A career 36% shooter from deep along with a positive defensive box plus-minus, Bazemore can provide plenty of value on a contending team, but not this Atlanta team. His contract is a bit of an albatross and any team willing to take him on would need to send back an equally bad contract along with some assets.
Recent rumors from Kelly Iko of RocketsWire have stated that both Milwaukee and Houston are interested in Baze, and even though he loves Atlanta, he would be willing to move to a contender.
Source: Kent Bazemore’s list of suitors also includes Milwaukee, who recently contacted the Hawks but initial trade talks didn’t get very far. Kent loves Atlanta, but would be open to a move to HOU/MIL since he knows both coaches well and would be joining a contender.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) August 7, 2018
One trade that looks too good to be true involves sending Kent to Houston in exchange for Ryan Anderson, a (probably protected) 2019 first-round pick, and rookie De’Anthony Melton. Melton had a first-round draft grade on many draft boards and many Hawks fans were begging for him to be picked at 30.
Another trade that might look good involves the Bucks. The trade could possibly center around Baze for Matthew Dellavedova, a 2019 first and maybe Sterling Brown or D.J. Wilson.
Bazemore thinks he could put either team in championship contention if ATL went that route. Good shooter, low usage rate, multi-positional defender, locker room presence. Almost an exact Ariza replacement.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) August 7, 2018
Extracting a pick/young asset from Baze’s contract would be an amazing haul and is seeming more and more likely. Having Baze on the team is only going to contribute to winning games — which, in the long run, will hurt our draft positioning come the draft lottery.
Next. Ranking the Hawks 7 Best Young Assets. dark
Baze is a great player and is the last remaining roster spot from that magical 2014-15 60 win team. We’ll always cherish that season but maybe it is time to move on from that era.