Should the Atlanta Hawks look at a Jarred Vanderbilt trade?

The Atlanta Hawks have had a very different offseason from the 2021 version. After making the Eastern Conference Finals the Hawks focussed on talent retention. While this appeared to be the right thing to do at the time, the results of the season tell us that they should have tried to upgrade their team.

Well, they traded Danilo Gallinari and draft picks to the San Antonio Spurs for Dejounte Murray who is going to have a huge impact on this team. They also traded Kevin Huerter to the Sacramento Kings for Justin Holiday and Maurice Harkless. They also signed Aaron Holiday and Frank Kaminsky in free agency.

The Hawks have significantly upgraded their roster, but are they finished for the offseason? It seems that opinions have changed on John Collins and that he is no longer on the trade block. However, the Utah Jazz has made everyone on their roster available and every franchise needs to take a look to see if they are interested.

Should the Atlanta Hawks take a look at Jarred Vanderbilt?

Jarred Vanderbilt started 67 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves last season. For a team that had an incredibly efficient offense, Vanderbilt played his role well. He averaged 6.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.6 blocks in 25.4 minutes per game.

On a team that did not have a huge amount of defense, Vanderbilt was the defensive key for the starting unit. On top of that, he is on a team-friendly contract worth only $9.0 million for the next two seasons. It is this contract that may be beneficial for the Hawks.

The Hawks may be interested in his contract as they are currently over the luxury tax threshold by $1.4 million. Now, management has stated that they are not afraid to go into this tax for the right player, but do they believe that they have the right player.

If they trade a player for Vanderbilt then the only one that makes a modicum of sense financially is sending Justin Holiday. Vanderbilt is due $4.3 million next season compared to $6.2 million for Holiday. This will get them under the cap but it has problems. Holiday has already been successful under Nate McMillan whereas Vanderbilt is an unknown for this coaching staff.

If the Hawks trade picks for Vanderbilt then they will be over the Luxury tax by about $6.0 million. However, if things are not working out for the Hawks they have time to move some salaries to get under the cap. They have the one full contract roster spot open and could fill that with Vanderbilt.

This would leave only two two-way spots to be fought over at training camp. However, the biggest problem with this trade is that Vanderbilt is not a good fit for the Hawks. They already have two players who are specialists inside big men who don’t space the floor.

Adding Vanderbilt will just compress the floor, making it hard for the Hawks’ star backcourt to create for themselves and for others. So, should the Atlanta Hawks be interested in a Jarred Vanderbilt trade? Absolutely not.