Hawks should get ready for All-Star's potential trade request

The Atlanta Hawks should take another foray into the blockbuster trade market.

Doing so will not come cheap, but that should not deter an organization that has toiled in mediocrity for the majority of the last eight seasons.

The Hawks should position themselves to make a trade for Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. He has not requested a trade, nor have the Timberwolves suggested they are open to trading him.

However, waiting to get into a position could mean missing the opportunity when it arises.

Edwards dropped a career-high 53 points in the Timberwolves’ loss to the Detroit Pistons on January 4. It marked the Timberwolves’ second straight loss and fifth in the last eight games.

The Timberwolves were on a three-game winning streak, but that was only after a skid of equal length. They currently sit 10th in the Western Conference standings. They are still just 5.0 games back of the No. 2 seed in the tightly contest West.

That is why the Hawks must be ready for if and when their chance to trade for Edwards.

Hawks trade pitch lands Anthony Edwards

This Soaring Down South trade proposal follows a similar framework to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ deal to acquire Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz. 

Hawks get:

- Anthony Edwards

Timberwolves get:

- Bogdan Bogdanovic
- Cody Zeller
- Kobe Bufkin
- Zaccharie Risacher
- 2025 first-round pick (via LAL)
- 2025 first-round pick (top-12 protected via SAC)
- 2027 first-round pick (via MIL or NOP)
- 2029 first-round pick
- 2032 first-round pick swap

Ideally, the Hawks would offload Bogdanovic with Clint Capela and whatever draft capital it takes to secure Edwards. Like the Hawks, however, the Timberwolves are two-deep in viable centers with Rudy Gobert in the Capela role and Naz Reid as Minnesota’s Onyeka Okongwu.

There is another version of this deal that would work better in-season.

It includes De’Andre Hunter with Bogdanovic and draft capital instead of Risacher, Bufkin – who is out for the season with a shoulder injury – and the absent Zeller.

Again, though, the cost to land a talent like Edwards will be steep. The Hawks’ best draft trade assets are also subject to other organizations’ results. It does not help that the Los Angeles Lakers have been better than many anticipated coming into the season.

Moving on from Risacher is surely one of the last things the Hawks want to or would do.

However, the Timberwolves certainly know about Bogdanovic and Hunter’s respective lengthy injury histories. 

The Hawks should absolutely try to offer a package centered around the duo if Edwards is made available. They should honestly call up Minnesota pre-emptively. But they will certainly be faced with requests for Risacher their draft capital and other appealing players.

There will be competition.

But Edwards – a two-time All-Star and Atlanta native – would be a worthwhile target. He is a two-way star, capable of dropping 50 points and locking up his assignment.

Edwards has spoken about the increased attention he has received this season from opposing defenses. It is, in part, a result of the Timberwolves trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks during the offseason.

That would not be an issue with the Hawks, at least not for long with Young on the floor.

Conversely, Risacher could benefit from playing in an environment where he can be more of a focal point and develop.

The only players the Hawks should be committed to keeping in a potential trade for Edwards are Young and Jalen Johnson. Risacher is right after them with Dyson Daniels after him. But no other Hawks player or asset should be off the table to land Edwards.

Anthony Edwards on Hawks with Jalen Johnson & Trae Young would be dangerous

The Hawks would also still have Capela and De’Andre Hunter to bolster the starting lineup and could replace Bogdanovic with Dyson Daniels on the second unit with Okongwu.

Daniels could still see starter’s minutes in that role, and he would solidify the backup point guard spot behind Young as he was projected to do coming into the season. Edwards has also played small forward in his career, freeing up minutes at the 2-guard spot.

The Hawks’ last blockbuster trade for a backcourt mate for Young flopped.

The difference between Edwards and Dejounte Murray is that the former is a natural off-ball player, even if he is more than adept with the ball, creating for himself and others.

Young has proven he has no qualms about giving up and operating off the ball. He too would benefit from the attention Edwards – who would be his first All-Star teammate – would still receive.

Johnson remains a bigger threat on the ball than off it, but he is tremendous in that capacity.

It is obviously a long shot. There have been no indications from either party about interest in doing a deal with the other, and ditto for any of the players who could be involved.

But we have seen blockbuster deals come out of nowhere before. And for all the roster moves the Hawks have made or been linked to, few would alter their trajectory to the level that a trade for Edwards would.