Just when it seemed as though the Atlanta Hawks (25-28)had figured things out, they go and drop their second game in a row with a 103-94 defeat courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks. What made this one stand out is they got Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson in foul trouble but allowed a triple-double to the former and 22 points to the latter.
Trade winds have been swirling ahead of the deadline albeit in a different direction.
After much speculation on the future of forward John Collins, the longest-tenured Hawks player – Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.com shared that recent momentum has made it less likely that Collins is dealt at the deadline on Feb 10.
That doesn’t mean they won’t revisit trading him in the offseason and they haven’t stopped searching for alternative means of raising their ceiling.
The Atlanta Hawks apparently want to upgrade their backcourt next to Trae Young
We recently went over one of those alternatives in Josh Hart from the New Orleans Pelicans in a deal that was reportedly discussed and would include Kevin Huerter. Huerter has a strong case for having the higher ceiling but Hart has thus far proven to be a more consistent player, particularly on defense.
There are also financial ramifications for making the move that would entice Atlanta.
The rumors haven’t stopped there in the wake of the news that the Philadelphia 76ers were holding out on dealing Ben Simmons in hopes of using him to land James Harden – a potential free agent this summer – from the Brooklyn Nets who have flatly declined.
Atlanta’s interest in upgrading their backcourt means two more intriguing options are on their radar in CJ McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers and Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics.
Pros and cons to trading for CJ McCollum
A rather recent addition to the ledger, CJ McCollum has been one of the better scorers in the NBA for some time averaging 20-plus points for the seventh time in a row during his nine-year career. He’s shooting 43.6 percent from the floor and 38.4 percent from downtown in what is easily his worst season since 2015.
The former 10th-overall pick out of Lehigh is averaging a career-best 4.3 boards and the second-most assists of his career at 4.5 per.
He’s slumped over the past three outings with 17.0 points per game, 35.6 percent from outside, and 6-of-24 threes. But he just had an eight-game stretch where he averaged 22.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting and 40.0 percent from three with 5.0 assists, and 4.6 rebounds.
Most importantly, McCollum can get his own with 61.0 percent of his looks coming unassisted.
The only Hawks player with a higher percentage of self-created offense is Trae Young at 84.0 percent. Lou Williams, who has missed the last two games, is next at 54.4 percent with Delon Wright the next rotation player with 41.9 percent of his looks being unassisted. Even Bogdan Bogdanovic, their next best iso-player, only generates 37.1 percent of his own looks.
He’s also shooting 39.3 percent on catch-and-shoot triples.
However, aside from being prolific scorers to varying degrees, McCollum and Young have something else in common that makes this a much less attractive pairing: poor defense.
McCollum is averaging at least 1.0 steals for the third time in his career but he is a less-than-enthusiastic defender whose imitations have been pretty well explored playing next to Damian Lillard.
A similar situation playing with Young would seem to be less than ideal for both McCollum and the Hawks.
Pros and cons to trading for Marcus Smart
This is the hypothetical deal that has gained the most steam in the court of public opinion with Marcus Smart checking a lot of the boxes the Hawks appear to be looking to fill. First and foremost he is a physical, hardnosed defender capable of guarding three positions but, for the Hawks purposes, excelling at the point of attack.
He’s averaging 11.3 points per game; just a fraction of a point behind Kevin Huerter who is thought to be one of the Hawks key trade chips.
Smart is shooting just 30.7 percent from downtown compared to 37.7 percent for Huerter.
But the Celtics guard shot 36.4 percent a few years ago and still boasts a defensive rating 3.2 points better than Huerter’s. In fact, back when we talked about that graphic that showed how much De’Andre Hunter brings to the floor, Smart was near the top.
The former Oklahoma State Cowboy is also a fiery competitor who isn’t afraid to speak his mind a la Collins.
His three-point efficiency creeps up slightly to 32.8 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. But it’s just 14.3 percent on pull-up which Smart is shooting at a 25.0 percent clip overall and has always been all-too-willing to take even when it is not falling.
Like McCollum, and Huerter recently, Smart is mired in a bit of a scoring slump with three single-digit performances in the last five games and four in the last eight since he returned from a thigh contusion that preceded a stint in health and safety protocols. The Celtics went 4-3 without him but have gone 7-1 since he came back.
There is a chance that having a motivator on the floor won’t be enough to uplift this group.
Despite the Hawks offense being one of the NBA’s best, Smart lacks the offense to be what the Hawks need when Young has an off night figuratively or literally.
Pros and cons to trading for CJ McCollum or Marcus Smart
Neither McCollum nor Smart put the Hawks over the top, let’s get that out of the way. There is some logic in adding to the Hawks strength and getting another premier scorer into the fold. But there has to be some sort of diversity in that approach, as McCollum’s Blazers have shown us in his tenure.
Another perimeter-based guard with sketchy defense would turn Atlanta into Portland South.
On the other hand, Smart offers much of what the Hawks need. But their offensive breakdowns when Young is off of the court or having a bad game will sink them even if their leaky defense does not.
They went 1-for-9 outside the paint in the fourth quarter and lacked anyone other than Young (and Collins in the pick-and-roll) that could break down the zone Dallas threw at them.
Bogdanovic and Huerter combined to go just 1-for-8 in the second half.
If McCollum and Smart both came over in separate deals, that might be something. But individually, each move leaves the Hawks short of what they need to maintain a consistent threat level in the East.
They are clinging to the final spot in the play-in but are also still just five games out of the sixth seed.
Any deal that they do threatens to disrupt their chemistry which has already been difficult to find at times this season. They should, and presumably would, only do so on a deal they felt did indeed put them over the top. Perhaps that is why Collins is off of the table now and why Clint Capela – who cannot be traded yet – was among the ‘untouchables’.