Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk’s Best and Worst Moves
By Dallin Duffy
Third Best Move – The Taurean Prince Trade
I wrote about this a few months back, but moving off of Taurean Prince when the Atlanta Hawks did was very smart. GMs are often hesitant to move young talent still on their first rookie deals, as scenarios like the Spellman one happen often.
Schlenk trading Taurean Prince was not only good timing but all the moving pieces involved were integral to future trades.
Prince has yet to show improvement since his breakout season with the Hawks in 2017-2018. His numbers were down in Brooklyn this year and with Kevin Durant coming to take his starting role, the 26-year-old forward is suddenly in a make-or-break situation.
They received two firsts and veteran Allen Crabbe for Prince, all of which were dealt again in the next few months.
The 2019 first-rounder helped the Hawks moved up from the eighth pick to the fourth pick for they could draft De’Andre Hunter. Allen Crabbe was traded to Minnesota for Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham, and the 2020 first was the main piece that helped the Hawks land Clint Capela.
Although there were a few other pieces (a few second-rounders and Evan Turner for money purposes), you could essentially look at the deal as trading Taurean Prince and the eighth pick for Clint Capela and the fourth pick. Not bad.