The Atlanta Hawks simply do not need Anthony Davis on the team now that Trae Young has been traded, and splurging for the Mavericks' veteran would doom the Jalen Johnson era in its infancy. While Davis would have been a great pick fit with Young, it would be incredibly short-sighted for the team to splurge now.
Davis simply does not match Atlanta’s personnel or timeline anymore. Had the Hawks held onto their star point guard, Davis would be a perfect fit on this team. He is the league’s ultimate roll man and would have instantly solved the team’s woeful interior presence.
Atlanta has to be honest with itself. The team was nowhere close to championship contention, even with Young on the roster. While Davis would be a useful addition, it would be a recklessly short-sighted move for the Hawks to acquire him. The Mavericks made this mistake just one year ago and are already looking to end their partnership with the 2020 Finals champion.
To make matters worse, Davis is earning an average of $58 million over the next three years and is seeking an extension. Why on Earth would the Hawks dump Trae Young’s contract but feel comfortable with Davis’s longer, more expensive deal?
Trading for Davis would set the franchise back years
The Hawks are in a “re-tooling” phase of the franchise. Unlike a full rebuild, Atlanta still has the building blocks of a potential championship team on the roster. They simply need to regroup, find pieces that fit their core, and be ready to compete in the near future.
With this understanding of where the Hawks are as a franchise, Davis looks like a horrible fit.
Jalen Johnson is a fantastic offensive player, but he is a below-average three point shooter. His career high from deep is 35.5% in both 2023-24 and this season, but this year’s number is inflated by an early-season hot streak – over the Hawks’ last 15 games, he’s down to just 29.3%. It would be malpractice from the front office to start Daniels (11.7% this season) and Davis (28.6%) alongside Johnson.
Davis will turn 33 this season and has only played 60 games in a season once this decade. A second blockbuster trade would simply turn Atlanta's Kristaps Porzingis problem into an Anthony Davis problem.
The Hawks do need a center, but Davis is not the answer. Ideally, the team would have three starter-level centers on the roster by the start of 2026.
Kristaps Porzingis is still an incredible player when healthy, and Atlanta could get him on a steal of a contract this offseason. Most teams will be afraid to offer the seven-footer any serious money, given his concerning health record. He would be the best center on the roster, although he would only be expected to play in 20-40% of Atlanta’s minutes.
Onyeka Okongwu would be the second center on the depth chart, although he would also spend time at the “power forward” position. When Porzingis is healthy, the two centers are like fire and ice – each player brings a game-breaking strength, but also carries a fatal flaw. Working together, they form the perfect dual-center lineup. If Porzingis misses time, Okongwu can resume his normal role and split center minutes with the third center.
Atlanta will have to find the third center on the market. Jusuf Nurkic and Mitchell Robinson will both be free agents this offseason, and the Hawks now have cap space. If the team declines to retain both CJ McCollum and Luke Kennard, they’ll have around $25 million to spend this offseason. They should use this flexibility by aggressively pursuing both centers on short-term deals to round out their rotation.
Even Mo Gueye – who is far too light to regularly play center on a competitive team – would be an acceptable stopgap while Atlanta reevaluates the roster.
The only bad option is Davis, who would clutter the paint on offense and put the team in the red on the cap sheet.