Nixed Proposed Trade Would See Atlanta Hawks Land $106M Two-Way Star
Could the Atlanta Hawks still have interest in Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown? What about guards Marcus Smart or Derrick White? The Hawks have continued their efforts to shop forward John Collins, who is reportedly “done” with the organization, having preliminary talks with several teams leading up to the 2022 NBA Draft.
Still, nothing came to fruition as several big names remained with their current teams.
Rumors of potential trades with the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers ended after Jearmi Grant was traded. There were also reports that the Hawks were “underwhelmed” with the Sacramento Kings’ offer centered around Harrison Barnes.
Collins’ market shifted from its perceived value as it did in free agency last summer. But one top Eastern Conference has rival kicked the tires.
The Hawks could shake up the Eastern Conference if they agreed to one of these deals
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer was hosting the June 24 episode of the “Please Don’t Aggregate This” podcast. Fischer and guest, The Athletic’s Seth Partnow, took calls and gave an updated lay of the land in the NBA post-draft. Collins’ much-discussed future was naturally a topic just as it was in the days prior.
Per Fischer, there were talks between the Hawks and the Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Celtics regarding Collins.
However, they were short-lived.
“I do know that Boston called about him at one point in this draft cycle, but never brought this up publicly previously because I was told that it was never very serious that we’re going to get very far.”
While Fischer also noted the Utah Jazz in a trade targeting Rudy Gobert, we have heard those rumblings just as much as the ones about the Blazers and Kings.
This regarding the Celtics’ interest in Collins is new and Fisher also had a potential target.
“I do know that…Derrick White was a Hawks target before he ultimately went to Boston. So, maybe they were calling there to see if there was something with Derrick White plus other things. I don’t know the specifics. But I’m just bringing you the data points that I do know.”
White averaged 11.0 points per game, 3.5 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 26 regular-season games after being traded from the San Antonio Spurs at the trade deadline.
He struggled a bit in the postseason, averaging just 8.6 points per game.
His 31.3% from deep in the postseason was bad. But it was also an improvement over what he shot for the Celtics during the regular season where he shot just about 30% from downtown.
NBC Sports Boston’s Jared Weiss reported on the Celtics’ interest in Collins back in March while noting that the Hawks had shown interest in Marcus Smart. He added that there was some interest on the Celtics’ behalf in Bogdan Bogdanovic.
“He’s someone that I’ve heard, from multiple sources, that [the Celtics] explored trading for at the last deadline when [Bogdanovic] was in the final year of his contract with Sacramento…If they’re willing to part with Marcus Smart, that’s certainly a good start to making that kind of package deal work.”
A deal centered around Smart gets complicated when trying to get back value for the still ascending Collins. While they have their first-round picks, the days of Boston sitting on a treasure trove of draft capital under former team president, Danny Ainge, are gone. Those picks turned into a group that was two wins away from winning the NBA Finals.
That is why The Athletic’s Zach Harper thinks that a deal that would send Celtics forward, Jaylen Brown, to his home state is out of the question.
Brown has been a fan-favorite target in trade rumors. But that dream appears as distant as ever following Boston’s run to the Finals. The Hawks can tell them just how far away “two wins” really is. But the safe bet is still for the Celtics to run that group back next season.
As NBC Sports Boston’s Darren Hartwell explains, the Celtics have other fish to fry.
“It seems unlikely the Celtics would make such a drastic move after finishing two wins shy of an NBA championship…The C’s should explore all avenues to improve their roster, but they have more pressing needs (bench scoring and playmaking at the top of the list) that can be addressed for a smaller price than trading a core player for Collins.”
That, plus Fischer’s latest intel, likely means no White, Smart, and, almost surely, no Brown in a Hawks uniform come next season.
Next. Hawks fans react to the selection of AJ Griffin. dark
Where will the Hawks turn to get a resolution on a Collins trade? Divorce seems imminent despite Hawks general manager Landry Fields noting their excitement for Collins and the four years (and over $100 million) remaining on his contract.