Atlanta Hawks: Four Young Players to Target via Trade

3. Marquese Chriss

Marquese Chriss was brought into the Houston Rockets this offseason in what was a perplexing series of moves from Daryl Morey and Houston’s front office. After an All-Rookie second team nod in the 2016-17 season after playing all 82 games for the Suns, Chriss has been buried on the bench in Houston so far this year.

The Rockets are likely almost in complete panic mode after expectations were extremely high after almost making the Finals last season. 23 games into the season, the Rockets sit below .500 on the season with an 11-12 record. With many of their moves not panning out in the slightest (Carmelo Anthony, Michael Carter-Williams, losing Ryan Anderson, Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute), the Rockets need some help. Enter Kent Bazemore.

Bazemore is extremely underrated, and he would be a perfect fit in Houston’s threes, fouls and layups system, and he is also an extremely capable switch defender with good size, great hands and impressive speed.

For the Hawks, nabbing a low-cost flyer on Chriss and taking on Knight’s deal would mean the Rockets would almost certainly hand over a first-round pick in this transaction. Chriss still might have some upside left in the tank, as he too (at 21 years old) matches the Hawks’ timeline. He also won the Suns a game against the Hawks last season on this game-saving block: