The Atlanta Hawks only made one trade throughout last season where they sent Cam Reddish and Solomon Hill to the New York Knicks. In return, they received the protected first-round pick from the Knicks that had originally belonged to the Charlotte Hornets as well as Kevin Knox.
While they would have loved the Hornets to have kept winning last season so that the pick conferred but this was not to be the case. So, instead of getting two first-round picks in the 2022 NBA draft, this pick stayed with the Hornets, meaning that it may convey in the 2023 NBA draft.
This was a good thing for the Hawks. Instead of getting a rookie that would need to develop, they were able to package up this pick with two unprotected future first-rounds, along with Danilo Gallinari to land Dejounte Murray.
The Atlanta Hawks continued to benefit from the Cam Reddish trade
Usually, when a team has to give up three first-round picks, their next five years are a bit of a struggle. Due to the NBA rules, a team is not allowed to trade their own first-round picks in consecutive drafts, meaning that they take the pain over a longer time.
It means they are not mortgaging their draft future like the Brooklyn Nets did when they landed the Boston Celtics Big-3 back in 2013, hoping for a championship. Leveraging that Hornets pick as part of a major trade means that the Hawks are only hurting their short term, with their ability to draft younger players lessened for the next three seasons not five.
What this shows is that Travis Schlenk certainly had the right of it when he made comment on the value of a first-round pick at the time of the trade. So, not only did the Hawk improve last season when Reddish moved on, but they continue to benefit from the collateral of the trade this season.
This is why we should never look at a trade in a vacuum, especialyl one which involves a first round pick.