Atlanta Hawks Rumors: Why Wasn’t Kent Bazemore Traded to Rockets?
By Chris Guest
With the trade deadline only a few hours away, let’s explore why the Atlanta Hawks opted to not trade Kent Bazemore to the Houston Rockets.
The Atlanta Hawks have been widely speculated as one of the most notable sellers at the NBA’s trade deadline.
However, with one day to go and a multitude of deals completed, the Hawks remained quiet yesterday in terms of transactions. While the day is still young with just over 3 hours until the deadline, one major question remains: Why didn’t Kent Bazemore get traded to the Rockets?
In the end, the Rockets’ major salary-matching piece of Brandon Knight has already been moved in a three-team deal, which is detailed below:
This move certainly bolsters the Rockets’ playoff rotation with the additions of Iman Shumpert, Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin – as all three players should help to provide depth to a Rockets roster that has been fairly thin all year.
The Kings get a younger, burly wing in Alec Burks along with a 2020 second rounder from Houston, and the Cavaliers get the haul of Knight, Marquese Chriss and a 2019 first rounder.
In a vacuum, this is exactly the kind of deal that the Atlanta Hawks should be taking on, but General Manager Travis Schlenk has never been particularly comfortable taking on money that is not expiring. Furthermore, the Rockets will surely make the playoffs this year, which means that Houston’s first round pick will probably land somewhere in the 23-28 range in what is considered a weak draft.
Beyond that, Kent Bazemore is a truly lovable character and still holds plenty of on-court value as well, and he seems eminently comfortable on this team of young players and cagey veterans. He even has a podcast with his teammate Vince Carter!
dark. Next. 4 Potential Taurean Prince to OKC Trades
Clearly, Travis Schlenk and the Atlanta Hawks have more tricks up their sleeves ahead of the upcoming deadline – and maybe Kent Bazemore will be moved after all. Stay tuned to Soaring Down South for all your Atlanta Hawks news and updates before the clock strikes 3 p.m. EST.