Trading Taurean Prince to Brooklyn Nets
A move that preceded the drafting of De’Andre Hunter was the less-than-surprising trade of Taurean Prince to the Brooklyn Nets.
This was an exceptional piece of business from Schlenk once again for a variety of reasons.
First, Schlenk had to have some inkling that the Nets needed to clear cap space because the team knew that both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were on the way to Brooklyn. With that in mind, Schlenk extracted not one, but two draft picks from the team for a player in Prince that it was clear was not going to be a long-term member of the Hawks once his contract expired in 2020.
Clearly, Schlenk and the Atlanta Hawks front office were uninterested in footing the bill for Prince’s next contract, so they jettisoned a player who had been productive and serviceable – but not flashy – during his tenure with the Hawks.
While Prince is clearly a good three-point shooter and scorer in general, his lacking athleticism and general disinterest in the defensive end made for a tough fit alongside the other less-than-heralded defenders the Hawks were building around.
Taking one year of Allen Crabbe while obtaining the #17 pick and a pick that will likely land in the 20s in next year’s draft is tremendous work – making this deal easily one of the best of the offseason for the Atlanta Hawks.