Atlanta Hawks: Ranking 6 Best Trade Assets on the Team

A look at the six best trade assets on the Atlanta Hawks currently.

The Atlanta Hawks currently sit at a record of 8-23 after two strong wins over the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks last week.

Even though the team is currently far from contention, the 2018-19 season is all about growth and development for the young guns on the team led by rookies Kevin Huerter, Trae Young and Omari Spellman and second-year stud John Collins.

Though many of the team’s core have been injured at various points this season, with Collins missing the first 15 games of the season after an offseason injury and Spellman currently out with an ankle issue and Taurean Prince also out upwards of 3 weeks with an ankle sprain, for the most part, the season has gone as expected.

The Atlanta Hawks are porous on defense and have lacked a go-to scorer (meant to be Trae Young) for much of the year, but they have still outperformed their point differential by a fairly substantial margin.

Most of that outperformance has come courtesy of the team’s consistent and solid veterans, led by Kent Bazemore, Jeremy Lin and (less so) Dewayne Dedmon. Because of the solid play of the team’s vets, many contending teams are beginning to take notice and make overtures to the Hawks regarding obtaining some of these players.

Let’s delve into the rankings of the six best trade assets on the team, starting with…

Justin Anderson

Acquired this offseason in the Dennis Schröder/Carmelo Anthony deal that also sent Mike Muscala to the 76ers, Justin Anderson has not played a whole lot for this Hawks team this season – mostly due to the fact he was recovering from injury to start the season.

However, in his 92 minutes played Anderson has conveyed his trademark defensive intensity, as he currently ranks 25th overall among shooting guards in ESPN’s defensive real plus/minus.

At 25 years old, Anderson cannot really be considered a young player anymore – especially not with 19-year-olds like Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Kevin Knox running roughshod over the league, but Anderson knows where to be on defense and if his three-point shot can ever get a little more consistent (currently shooting 17.6 percent on 17 total attempts), Anderson would make for a useful player for many teams in the league.

As a trade asset, Anderson has value as a throw-in or sweetener for any deal that might get done before this year’s trade deadline or this offseason, as he is only due $3.6 million for the final year of his rookie deal next season.

Though Anderson serves as a solid trade chip, it’s doubtful that any teams are prioritizing his acquisition under any circumstance.

Tyler Dorsey

Though Tyler Dorsey was a gem last season on a dreadfully dull 2017-18 Atlanta Hawks team, this season his minutes have seemingly been cut to nil. Dorsey has played only 172 minutes over 16 games, the fifth-lowest minutes total on the team ahead of only Miles Plumlee, Anderson, Daniel Hamilton and Jaylen Adams.

Due to the inconsistent, spot minutes that Dorsey has seen this season, his numbers have dropped considerably from what was a fairly promising rookie year. Dorsey’s three-point stroke, which was his calling card coming out of college, has seemed to evaporate this season due to the stop-and-start nature of his minutes.

Dorsey is currently shooting 20.8 percent from long range, down from 36.2 percent last season. Similarly, his 71.4 percent shooting clip from the free throw line has plummeted to 57.1 this year.

However, despite all this negativity, Dorsey is still a useful young player that almost every team in the league would be glad to have on its roster, no matter whether they’re a contender or a rebuilder. Dorsey is an underrated athlete, and he still projects to be a talented catch-and-shoot marksman. As such, he holds plenty of value for the Atlanta Hawks as a sweetener in any deal that might happen.

Dewayne Dedmon

Dewayne Dedmon is currently in the final year of a 2-year/$14 million deal that expires after this season. Any expiring deal has solid value around the league, but Dedmon’s stretch five skill set has never been more valuable – especially combined with his rim-running and shot-blocking potential.

Dedmon is currently tied for first on the team with 1.0 win shares, and most of that has come on the defensive end, where he has produced .7 defensive win shares on the year. Dedmon’s three-point percentage and true shooting percentage are both down a bit from last year, but he recently put up a career-high 24 points on the back of a perfect 5 of 5 night from beyond the arc, so his long-range stroke is definitely reliable going forward.

Double D is a reliable and solid NBA big man, and he is on a reasonable, expiring deal. As such, he could be packaged with another player or traded straight up if a team is looking for a veteran big man that brings energy and fire on both ends of the floor every night.

A likable presence, Dedmon also seems to be a terrific teammate too, as one can always hear him barking at his teammates or the opposing team every night when watching Atlanta Hawks games.

Jeremy Lin

Though it might seem unlikely that Jeremy Lin is traded by the Atlanta Hawks and GM Travis Schlenk, he has played so well this year that many teams around the league might be looking for a half-season rental of Lin in order to bolster the team’s point guard rotation – or to slide him in at starting point guard.

We’ve already laid out some realistic trades involving Lin, and we’ve pondered a deal that could send Lin to the Suns.

Lin took a while to get himself back into full shape after rupturing his patellar tendon last year with the Nets, but once he got comfortable, he has been playing lights out for much of the year. Lin dropped 26 points on extremely efficient shooting against the East-leading Raptors, and he notched a double-double against the Boston Celtics in November – his first as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, and also his first since the 2016-17 season.

Lin is currently in the final year of his hefty deal, and while it seems that Schlenk would be loath to trade him after swinging a deal for him this offseason, if future draft compensation is on the table, a wily operator like Schlenk would have to at least listen.

Because he’s been playing so well, too, the Atlanta Hawks should be willing to strike while the iron’s hot.

Taurean Prince

Though it would’ve been insane to place Taurean Prince on this list before the season began, after seeing the team play without him, it’s not a stretch to believe that Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk might be proactive when it comes to moving the third-year wing when his value is at its highest.

We’ve already seen that Schlenk is willing to wheel and deal on draft day and in order to take on bad salary, so who’s to say that GM Schlenk wouldn’t be willing to unload a cost-controlled young-ish asset to a team that’s looking for help on the wing or a young, three-and-D asset to build around.

Though The Prince That Was Promised played heroically down the end of last season, putting up a flurry of 30-plus point performances as the team’s sole offensive weapon without Dennis Schröder or Kent Bazemore, this year has not been quite as kind as Prince has had to adjust to his role alongside a high-usage, ball-dominant point guard like Ice Trae.

As such, it might be a good time to move on from Taurean when his value is at its highest. We’ve recently outlined some deals that include Taurean Prince alongside Kent Bazemore to contending teams, and Prince is one of the rare players that might tip the scales of any trade the Atlanta Hawks entertain.

If Prince is on the table, his presence might make the difference between a second round or first round draft pick going from whatever team wants him to the Hawks. As such, he must be listed quite highly on this list.

Kent Bazemore

Though John Collins certainly has more value around the league as a young, cost-controlled, uber-athletic big man, the Atlanta Hawks should see John the Baptist as close to untouchable going forward. As such, the number one trade asset on the Atlanta Hawks currently is none other than Kent Bazemore.

Baze has already been labeled as a “difference maker” for contending teams in a recent report from RealGM, and the Atlanta Hawks led by GM Schlenk, should be doing everything in their power to highlight Baze’s all-around skill set for teams looking to shore up their defense and/or wing rotation ahead of a lengthy playoff run.

We’ve previously unveiled a variety of Bazemore trades, and it cannot be overstated that Baze is a talented player with a malleable skill set that would fit well with any team on the league. He rarely makes mistakes, is a good culture guy and seems to be an eminently likable person all-around.

However, if the Atlanta Hawks are able to obtain a future draft pick of some kind from a contending team for Baze, there is no question that the pragmatic and logical Schlenk will not hesitate to move on from the only player that remains from the magical 60-win season of 2014-15.

As a prototypical three-and-D player, Baze already fills a need that almost any playoff contender must be coveting. Beyond that, Baze is a capable ballhandler and playmaker and his quick hands and ability to move laterally make him a fearsome on-ball and team defender. Though his three-point jumper is off a bit this season (down to 31.4 percent on the third-most attempts on the team), Baze is coming off a career-high 39.4 percent clip from long-range, so the shot is there.

Losing Baze would mean that the final vestiges of the previous era of the team could be shaken off. Sure, Baze has long been the beating heart of this team, what with his Baze gazes and fiery personality, but looking ahead, the Hawks might have a similar player to look forward to in Zion Williamson or R.J. Barrett.

Either way, Baze is the best trade asset on the team, and it seems likely that he will be traded before the deadline this season.