Late Thursday morning, word broke that the Atlanta Hawks are reclaiming a former staple of their team.
Atlanta Hawks fans should rejoice the return of a familiar face to their basketball club!
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the first trade of the new decade would see the Atlanta Hawks receiving Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham from the Minnesota Timberwolves in return for swingman Allen Crabbe.
Atlanta has traded guard Allen Crabbe to Minnesota for PG Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham, league sources tell ESPN. Hawks get a backup for Trae Young.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 16, 2020
This could mean many things. First, with the Timberwolves taking on large expiring deals, perhaps they could be talked into trading the majority of the players on their roster. Maybe other players like Gorgui Dieng or Robert Covington are available.
Second, the Hawks finally have a quality ball handler to backup Trae Young. The team hasn’t had a solid point guard rotation since the days of Jeff Teague being backed up by Dennis Schroder. Since then, names like Malcolm Delaney and Jeremy Lin have been leading the second unit to little success. Teague will make this the best point guard rotation Atlanta has had in years.
Third, the Hawks have a new wing in Treveon Graham. This is Graham’s fourth team in four seasons of play, as he’s logged minutes on the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets before finding himself on the Timberwolves. Graham has shown some promise, but in a jammed wing rotation of Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, and DeAndre’ Bembry, minutes might be hard to find. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him adopt Crabbe’s minutes, as well as some of Vince Carter’s.
Fourth, the Brandon Goodwin era might be over. Even though it was short lived, Goodwin made his presence felt on the Hawks. He worked his way up from the G-League by averaging 19.1 points, 6.1 assists, and 7.8 rebound per game for the College Park Skyhawks
Since joining the Skyhawks’ NBA affiliate, Goodwin’s production has understandably dropped off, but it wasn’t without a career game of 21 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals to lead the Atlanta Hawks over the Orlando Magic in Trae Young’s absence. Now that Teague is back on the roster, Goodwin’s minutes will likely see a decline, or he may even be sent back to the G-League.
Goodwin is young and has more promise, but Teague is better right now and might be able to help salvage something from this Hawks season.
Fifth, the Hawks are early winners of trade season. Even though this is only the second NBA trade of the last six months, the Hawks traded a player who contributed very little for a player who can run a second unit effectively, serve as the team’s new sixth man, and they also acquired another young wing. This deal is a no-brainer for them.
This is a huge win for the Atlanta Hawks. The front office turned nothing into something and reclaimed a fan-favorite player from a more successful time in franchise history.