Why Didn’t Atlanta Hawks Trade for Frank Ntilikina?

Though old news, the Atlanta Hawks were relatively quiet at the trade deadline.

Despite a rather insipid showing in early February before the NBA’s trade deadline, the Atlanta Hawks were widely rumored as a big mover and shaker in terms of transactions, but nothing monumental came to fruition.

The only major moves the Atlanta Hawks made were waiving Jeremy Lin and trading second-year backup guard Tyler Dorsey to the Memphis Grizzlies – in the grand scheme of things, small potatoes for the Hawks.

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However, according to reporting from Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, the New York Knicks floated a trade to the Atlanta Hawks involving second-year player Frank Ntilikina. Apparently, according to Bondy’s story, that offer was rebuffed by Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk and the front office.

Why did Schlenk so easily dismiss the idea of trading for Frankie Smokes?

First off, we know that Schlenk adores shooters, and Frankie Nicotine is about as far from a shooter as one can get at the guard positions. Through 119 career games, Ntilikina is only shooting 30.7 percent from long range on more than 4 attempts per game.

From the field, the numbers aren’t much prettier. In his career, Ntilikina is only shooting 35.6 percent from the field, and it’s all tied together with a supremely low true shooting percentage of 43.1 percent for his career.

Of course, the reason why the Hawks might have interest in Ntilikina is because of his impressive defensive pedigree. However, because Smokes is such as clear negative on the offensive end, whatever positive contributions he makes defensively are thoroughly negated.

The eye test might tell you that his size and length at the guard position make him a fearsome defender in the backcourt, but his -7.7 on/off rating per 100 possessions this season (all stats per Basketball Reference) make it clear that eyes can be deceiving sometimes.

Who knows, perhaps the Hawks might provide a less intense atmosphere in which Ntilikina could improve on the offensive end alongside a brilliant tactician like Trae Young and easy assist target in John Collins.

Certainly, it’s understandable why Schlenk was uninterested, but who knows what the offseason might bring for the Atlanta Hawks.