Bleacher Report wrote an article titled “The Perfect Trades to Land NBA Stars Their Ideal Sidekicks” and had Gary Harris going to the Atlanta Hawks.
The hypothetical trade put together by Greg Swartz from Bleacher Report had Kevin Huerter and Dewayne Dedmon heading to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Gary Harris. This honestly seems like a pretty fair trade for both teams and works out logistically.
The rationale behind this trade makes sense. Trae Young is a terrible defender, so it makes a lot of sense to pair him in the backcourt alongside one of the better defensive shooting guards in the NBA.
Additionally, Gary Harris is an excellent shooter which would help the Atlanta Hawks offense immensely. Gary Harris would add a lot to this Hawks team, especially if the change of scenery helps him in getting back to his 2017-18 level of production.
However, this trade is far from perfect from the Atlanta Hawks perspective.
The first issue is that the Atlanta Hawks already have Cam Reddish who does a lot of the same things as Gary Harris and has significantly more potential. Acquiring a guy like Harris could potentially stunt the growth of Reddish by limiting his minutes.
The second issue is that Kevin Huerter isn’t significantly worse than Gary Harris. Sure, what Harris brings on the defensive end of the floor is much more impactful than Huerter, however, if Huerter is destined to come off the bench for the Hawks it won’t matter as much if he isn’t an elite defender or not. Especially if Cam Reddish is that elite perimeter defender.
Overall, if the Atlanta Hawks were proposed this trade, they would likely take it.
Ultimately, it could impact the growth of Cam Reddish or it could result in the Hawks paying Gary Harris $19M to come off the bench if Reddish continues to develop.
Either way, it makes for an interesting hypothetical, which is all we’re clinging to during these uncertain times.