A look at four young players that the Atlanta Hawks could target in a trade this season.
The Atlanta Hawks are currently staring down the business end of a 5-20 record with no respite in sight. This year was always going to be about developing young players first and foremost, and the early returns for some notable names (Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, DeAndre’ Bembry) have been mostly good.
Young has played well and was named the Rookie of the Month for the Eastern Conference. Huerter (aka Red Pepper) has been elevated to the starting lineup over veteran and longtime Hawk Kent Bazemore. Bembry has been a defensive menace, and his ability to serve as a rangy backup point guard in spurts has helped quell the minor injuries to Jeremy Lin.
However, with Taurean Prince out for a while with a severe sprained ankle, the Atlanta Hawks should extend their gaze to some other young players on expiring deals or rookie-scale deals that have not been getting a ton of playing time.
We have already outlined multiple reasons to trade for the 76ers’ Markelle Fultz (and less so Furkan Korkmaz) so he will not be included here. We have also laid out some deals to obtain either Elie Okobo or De’Anthony Melton from the Suns in a potential Jeremy Lin, so those two will also not be included.
1. Frank Ntilikina
New York Knicks fans (and their mercurial and infamous team owner James Dolan) are a notoriously impatient sort. For the first time in a while, the Knicks have a bevy of young talent on its roster with Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinsons, Allonzo Trier and Frank Ntilikina – notwithstanding the Zinger, Kristaps Porzingis, who is still recovering from a tough injury last year.
However, many rumors are swirling around defensive maestro Frankie Smokes, as his lack of offensive polish has seemingly scared off many Knicks fans – especially when compared to guaranteed bucket-getter Iso Zo.
If Smokes is available via trade, the Atlanta Hawks would do well to try and land the #8 overall pick in the 2017 draft. With Trae Young as the team’s number-one option at the point, the Hawks will have a hard time stopping anyone on defense. That’s where Smokes comes in.
Ntilikina has a huge, well-built frame and his 7-foot-1 wingspan combined with a 6-foot-6 height means that Smokes will be able to paper over some of the defensive deficiencies that Young brings to the less glamorous end. At only 20 years old, Ntilikina would also perfectly match this young Atlanta Hawks core’s extremely youthful vibe.
To obtain Frankie Smokes, the Hawks would have to give up Tyler Dorsey and Justin Anderson in this deal. Adding the running-and-gunning style of Dorsey with Trier and Tim Hardaway Jr. will guarantee some high scores in Madison Square Garden, and Anderson is an expiring contract that seems to be a terrific teammate at every stop in his 4-year-career.
2. Melvin Frazier
We have previously laid out some deals with the Magic that involve bringing Melvin Frazier to the Hawks and most of them involve taking on dead money in the form of Timofey Mozgov’s beefy salary. This deal is no exception, but it’s still worth revisiting.
If the Atlanta Hawks were to do the Magic a favor and take on the final year of Mozgov’s 4-year/$64 million deal, adding in Frazier and a future second-round pick would almost be a given. In return, the Magic would get a talented placeholder point guard in the form of Jeremy Lin – which suits Orlando’s needs as the team attempts to make the Eastern Conference playoffs on the back of an All-Star season for Nikola Vucevic.
For the Hawks, adding Frazier would be a nice move and make him the 5th rookie the Hawks have on the team. Frazier is also on a cheap rookie-scale deal and who comes in with plenty of upside and promise out of Tulane. A quick-twitch athlete who’s extremely raw, Frazier is a little bit older for a rookie (22), but that is still well within the confines of this team’s rebuilding window.
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:
4. Trey Lyles
A solid wing body who has played well for the Nuggets this season, Trey Lyles has an expiring deal that the Nuggets would likely move in any deal that would help them bolster its wing rotation ahead of a hopefully deep Western Conference playoff run.
Again, Bazemore is an extremely underrated and versatile that would suit the needs of any playoff team in the NBA. The Nuggets are no different. With a fare superior defense from years past, Bazemore would improve their defensive ceiling even more, and he has also shown the ability to play alongside Paul Millsap on the two players’ year together on the Atlanta Hawks.
If the Nuggets truly want to go “all-in” this season (which they probably don’t), maybe the Hawks could pry away a future pick from the team – be it second-round or first-round.
Lyles has shown some flashes in his time with the Nugs, but it seems that he is not part of their core going forward with other players chomping at the bit to take his minutes (Torrey Craig, Monte Morris, Malik Beasley). Lyles’s three-point shooting is also down from last season on similar attempts per game (38.1 percent on 3 attempts per game last year compared to 28.4 percent on 3.1 attempts per game this year).
While Baze’s shooting is also down, he brings a sterling defensive pedigree that would be a sure boon for the Nugs gearing up for the playoffs. Lydon and Plumlee would be included as salary filler in this deal.