The Atlanta Hawks are in need of a second star to take some of the load off Trae Young. The Miami Heat showed the weakness in the Hawks setup. They shut him down which had the Hawks stumble. There were injury concerns throughout the series but it is now irrelevant as the Heat eliminated the Hawks in five games.
The main problem for the Hawks is that they have so little shot creation without Young picking apart a defense. Bogdan Bogdanovic is one of the few players who can create his own shot on the team but when that happers he tends to play a little too much hero ball.
This stops the ball movement which makes the Hawks such a dangerous team. On top of this there is Bogdanovic’s knee which may cause the Hawks to try and actively trade the sharp shooter. While Bogdanovic said at media day he is expecting to have his best season next year, it may not be in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Hawks may be looking for a decent roster shakeup
The joy for the Hawks is they have some of the most tradeable young players in the league. They have a lot of them locked into long term deals which helps teams to feel more at ease when they are trying to build around these players in the future. Let’s look at the deal with the Utah Jazz.
To sum up the trade, the Hawks would send Bogdanovic and John Collins to the Jazz. In return they would receive Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale.
Why the Utah Jazz say yes to the Atlanta Hawks trade.
The Jazz were just bundled out of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks. They have a really strong starting lineup but with the exception of Rudy Gobert, they are undersized. Adding the athleticism and size of Collins would make them bigger and harder to score against.
While Collins struggles with staying in front of his man on defense, he has the two-time Defensive Player of the Year who will have his back. This means that Collins can be further up on his man, knowing that if he is beaten, Gobert will stop his man more than any other pivot in the game.
Collins is a smart shooter, taking shots that he knows that he can make which will help him fit the Jazz offense. His ability to play in the pick and roll, also converting that to the pick and pop will make the Jazz harder to defend.
Bogdanovic is one of the best shooters in the league and he will pick up some of the lost production the Jazz suffer from losing Mitchell. His ability to shoot the long ball will also help cover the loss of Joe Ingles who was traded away after injuringhis knee last season.
Why the Atlanta Hawks say yes to the Utah Jazz trade.
Forst and foremost it gives the Hawks another star to take the pressure off Trae Young. This is going to be crucial for the Hawks if they want to have another deep run in the playoffs. Star power is real currency in the NBA and Mitchell has been one of the brightest in the West for a while.
He can start taking pressure off Young with ball handling and scoring which is going to be crucial for how the Hawks are defended. However, it also means that the Hawks are able to start using Young off-ball more which is something the Hawks may want to explore.
While it will also hurt to see the back of Collins who has been such a valued member of the organisation, the payoff is potentially huge, Getting O’Neale also helps the Hawks defensive capabilities and he is an underrated 3-point shooter.
This trade will make the Hawks a contender for years to come as Mitchell still has four years left on his contract. This is the same amount of time that Collins has left on his deal which keeps the window open while the Hawks are still young.