Hawks prefer former top-10 draft pick over veteran in potential trade talks

In many ways, the future is now for the Atlanta Hawks. 

The Hawks have the sixth-youngest team in the NBA this season by average age, per HispanosNBA.com and they could skew even younger before all is said and done.  Hawks CEO Steve Koonin alluded to such a shift. 

Fans should expect the Hawks to stay the course with their chemistry building rapidly and paying off on the court. 

But a new batch of intel from NBA insider Jake Fischer suggests the Hawks are ready.

"I think everyone has their price, but for now it seems like Onyeka Okongwu is the center that Atlanta wants to keep and build this thing around,” Fischer said during a Bleacher Report livestream on December 6.

This is not to say the Hawks are looking to move starting center Clint Capela. But Okongwu would allow for more offensive flexibility with his expanded range.

Okonwu was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Hawks signed him to a four-year, $61.9 million contract extension, and he has responded with career-high marks of 11.3 points and 1.5 assists per game. 

However, his rebounding and block numbers – he is averaging fewer than 1.0 blocks for the first time since his rookie season – are down. The same goes for his three-point efficiency, though that can be expected with a slight uptick in his volume so far.

More importantly, Okongwu is averaging 13.5 points on 62.5% shooting over the last six games.

Again, though, that does not – and perhaps should not – mean the Hawks are looking to part with Capela.

Clint Capela making positive impact without scoring

Capela has scored fewer than 10 points in six straight games, averaging 5.8 PPG in that span. He is, however, also averaging 12.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.2 steals per contest in the same period.

Some advanced metrics favor Capela too.

Capela is second on the Hawks in on-off differential this season, behind only Jalen Johnson, per Cleaning The Glass. 

Okongwu ranks ninth, checking in just in front of rookie No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher. That is somewhat concerning both now and going forward. The Hawks need Okongwu to have a positive impact if they are going to let Capela walk after the season.

Capela, 30, is in the final year of a two-year, $46 million deal and has dealt with injuries.

However, the soon-to-be 24-year-old, Okongwu, has battled injury woes of his own. And the defensive drop from Capela to Okongwu is steeper than the gains on offense.

While it may seem like a clear-cut decision about which big man the Hawks should lean on, their hesitancy to part with either in their trade talks with the New Orleans Pelicans this past offseason makes even more sense after 24 games into the season.