Good luck figuring out what the Atlanta Hawks were truly going for at the trade deadline this season.
Their actual moves – sending out Bogdan Bogdanovic, Cody Zeller, and De’Andre Hunter in three separate trades that yielded Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, Terance Mann, and draft capital – signaled a play for the future.
However, they had other trades geared more toward winning now in the works.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst reported that the Hawks showed interest in Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal even as “most of the NBA” balked.
“Beal had indicated that even if he’d waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a move now, he would retain it in his new home. That was a nonstarter for Miami, and for most of the NBA,” Shelburne and Windhorst wrote on February 7.
“Of all the teams Phoenix canvassed, sources said only the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks would consider taking on Beal if he'd waive his no-trade clause to go there. Phoenix clung to that hope for weeks, hoping that if they could somehow improve their package to incentivize these teams to participate, and other trades the Wizards and Hawks were working on fell through, then maybe there would be a path to a deal.”
Shelburne and Windhorst reported doubt remained about that Beal would waive the clause.
Bradley Beal has NBA’s ‘worst contract’
Beal, 31, is in Year 3 of a five-year, $251 million contract. He has a $57.1 million player option in the final year of the deal in addition to the no-trade contract.
“100% it’s the worst contract in the league because you can't do anything with it. You can talk about Joel Embiid, you could say whatever other crap you want about any other player. If you have Bradley Beal on your team you’re at the mercy of whatever Bradley Beal wants to do. That’s why it’s the worst contract in the league because it’s the only one you can’t move. You can move any other deal; you can’t move that one, because you have to get his permission to do it. You have to, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps said on “The Hoop Collective” podcast on January 27.
“It’s a way overvalued contract on top of it.”
Beal has averaged 17.4 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 37 appearances with the Suns this season. Acquiring him would have replaced the outgoing Bogdan Bogdanovic, who the Hawks traded to the Los Angeles Clippers at the deadline.
Instead, the Hawks added a trio of veterans in LeVert, Mann, and Niang who they hope will provide enough depth to remain competitive this season.
It is difficult to say they made the wrong decision on this one.