Grade the trade: Hawks pitch lands former 1st-round pick & more for Clint Capela
The Atlanta Hawks have 14 guaranteed contracts on their roster, which is one short of the regular season limit. They have until August 1 before Bruno Fernando’s 2024-25 salary locks in bringing their roster to 15 players.
They have until October 27 to finalize their roster. Before then, they can carry up to 21 players.
That could potentially open up opportunities such as this trade idea that would send Clint Capela to the New York Knicks for Miles McBride and Precious Achiuwa.
Proposed Hawks trade lands Precious Achiuwa, Miles McBride
“If the Knicks are dead set on maintaining two weapons at the five spot and see McBride as expendable in light of Tyler Kolek’s Summer League, trading for a starting caliber center could be an intriguing move for the front office. There aren’t a great deal of high-end bigs available, but the retooling Hawks could look to part ways with Capela,” SportsNet New York’s David Vertsberger wrote on July 24.
“Losing McBride would hurt, and New York would need to sign-and-trade Achiuwa plus use their trade exception from the OG Anunoby deal to match salary figures. But in return, they’d receive a picture perfect addition, a rim-running defender that consistently tops the league in offensive rebounding.”
CC to NYK
Achiuwa was the No. 20 overall pick of the 2020 draft, the same class that produced Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu. He is also 6-foot-8 like Okongwu, though the Hawks youngster is listed as being 10 pounds heavier.
Achiuwa averaged 7.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 2023-24, splitting the season between the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks.
He is coming off a four-year, $12.5 million contract.
McBride averaged 8.3 points, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 2023-24. An off-guard despite being 6-foo2, McBride shot 41% on 3.9 attempts from beyond the arc (42.2% on catch-and-shoot attempts).
He is starting a three-year, $13 million contract with a 4.7 million cap hit in 2024-24. The deal decreases in value, and McBride will count $3.9 million in 2026-27.
This deal would only add to the Hawks’ roster crunch, though.
They would still have Okongwu, Fernando, and Cody Zeller under contract at center as well as Larry Nance Jr. Nance appears headed for primary backup 4 duties behind Jalen Johnson but logged most of his minutes at center in 2023-24.
The Hawks have 2023 first-round pick Kobe Bufkin at guard too, though he an McBride could share the backup backcourt.
Grade – C-: This deal would create more questions for the Hawks than it answers despite both Achiuwa and McBride being useful players.