The Atlanta Hawks cannot seem to catch a break this season. If it is not injuries, it has been the misfortune of their rival’s actions.
On Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic in a move that does not bode well for the incoming draft pick from the former that the Hawks own.
Things may have gotten even worse on Sunday.
“Sacramento is finalizing a trade to send De'Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a multi-team trade that moves Chicago Bulls' Zach LaVine to the Kings, sources tell ESPN,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on X on February 2.
Former Hawks first-round pick Kevin Huerter went to the Bulls in the deal. The rest of the components in the deal are only of marginal interest to the Hawks.
Full trade:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 3, 2025
Spurs: De'Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin
Kings: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first round picks (2025 CHA, 2027 SAS, 2031 MIN), three second round picks (2025 CHI, 2028 DEN, 2028 own back)
Bulls: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 pick via SAS https://t.co/UgwylCUYAO
It is the impact that this trade could which the Hawks must be wary of.
For one, they own the rights to the Kings’ 2025 first-round pick. The pick is top-12 protected and is currently not on track to convey. It is reasonable to question if it will this season given LaVine and Kings forward DeMar DeRozan were teammates in Chicago.
They went 81-75 as a duo, but they cooled off considerably after a 6-1 start. The Kings are 1-4 in their last five games and sit 10th in the Western Conference at 24-24 as of February 2.
The Hawks are also tracking to send a top-10 draft pick to the Spurs thanks to their own issues.
They are riding an eight-game losing streak and have lost their second-best player – 2021 first-round pick Jalen Johnson – for the season to a shoulder injury. The Hawks are 22-27 and ninth in the East.
The Hawks drafted Huerter with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. They traded him to the Kings in 2022 after acquiring Dejounte Murray from the Spurs.
He notably spoke about the Hawks 2021 Eastern Conference Finals sped up their timeline.
“That was almost like the start of our downfall, was the run that we went on,” Huerter told J.J. Redick and Tommy Alter on “The Old Man & the Three” on May 17. “We won before we were expected to win, or before we should have won let’s call it…That just put a fast forward on our timeline, and I don’t think our team as a whole was fully at that point.”
Ironically, Huerter has found himself in an almost identical situation as he was in with the Hawks.
Notably, Fox represents the second franchise cornerstone traded in as many days.
LaVine could fall under that header. But Fox and Doncic are closer to the kind of star Hawks point guard Trae Young is. With the previous whispers about Young, it is fair to wonder if the Hawks feel they are close to making a similar monumental move.