Why the Atlanta Hawks should pull the trigger
This trade would bring the secondary playmaker the Hawks need to run the second unit and even next to Young with designs on getting the Hawks point guard off of the ball and on the move offensively. Wright has currently taken the reigns of the second unit, sharing the backcourt with Kevin Huerter.
Haliburton is averaging 13.9 points, 7.0 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in 42 starts while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor and 43.7 percent from three.
Only Clint Capela, John Collins, and Onyeka Okongwu have been better from the floor of the Hawks rotation players while only Collins and De’Andre Hunter have been better than Haliburton shooting the three at a 43.9 percent and 42.9 percent clip, respectively.
The Hawks acquired Wright from the Kings in an offseason trade.
He’s averaging 4.1 points on 42.6 percent shooting and 39.1 percent from three with 2.5 assists and 2.9 boards and currently has the reigns of the second unit alongside Kevin Huerter.
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Haliburton would represent a major upgrade from Wright offensively if he were to come off of the bench while taking more of the playmaking responsibilities off of Huerter, hopefully, leading to improved defense from the fourth-year wing whose play on that side of the ball has taken a dip.
He isn’t fixing that necessarily but, at 6-foot-5, he provides similar length to Wright and the IQ to be in the right spots defensively. He’s also averaging 1.7 steals.
The second-year point guard had 25 points, five boards, three steals, went 5-of-7 from three in a loss to the Hawks on Jan. 5.
Haliburton also has one more year on his contract under team control than Reddish.
If the Hawks can find a way to get disgruntled forward Marvin Bagley in this deal –perhaps with Wright’s salary plus draft picks to make it work — they would be getting a lottery ticket that possesses the talent to be a useful rotation player in a better situation.
Bagley is averaging just 8.4 points and 7.0 boards in 24 games with 11 starts but has been a 14-point-per-game scorer since he entered the league.