Insider offers troubling comparison for Hawks' offseason trade

The 2024-25 campaign is undoubtedly a key one for the Atlanta Hawks.

They are coming off missing the postseason and made the drastic decision to pull the plug on the Dejounte Murray-Trae Young pairing after two seasons. What they do next is critical because they are reaching another critical point with Young.

The three-time All-Star is in Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million contract. But he has a player option for the final year in 2026-27, putting the Hawks on a two-year timeline.

They are not expected to enjoy much success as currently constructed.

“It's a bad situation in Atlanta because the Hawks are in a position where they should be entering what would hopefully be kind of a rapid rebuild but they can't because the Spurs have all their draft capital,” ESPN’s Tim Macmahon said on “The Hoop Collective” podcast on August 30. “So they're in this awkward situation where they should be unloading more pieces but it's just not something that – you can't bottom out to make the Spurs better.

“The Nets had to go get most of their draft capital back to put themselves in a position where they could bottom out. And so the Hawks are in this miserable purgatory situation where there's no point and they’re trying to be as competitive as possible. But as competitive as possible … is, I think, probably high side a Play-In [Tournament] situation.”

If there is a silver lining to Macmahon’s comparison, the Nets have somewhat righted the ship but it took tearing down their roster and even pivoting off their 2023 pivot this offseason. The Rockets do still own at least swap rights to the Nets’ first-round picks in 2025, 2026, and 2027.

However, Brooklyn acquired first-round picks in those years plus one in 2029 from the Phoenix Suns for Kevin Durant. 

The 2026 selection is conditional.

They also own a conditional 2027 first from the Philadelphia 76ers (James Harden/Ben Simmons) and a 2029 first from the Dallas Mavericks (Kyrie Irving). The biggest return, however, came from flipping Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks this summer.

That brought back unprotected first-round picks in 2025 through 2027 and 2029 with a swap option in 2028.

Hawks in far different spot than Nets

The Hawks do not have a Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, or even a James Harden and do not control their first-round pick until 2028. They do have a conditional 2025 first-round pick from the Sacramento Kings from the Kevin Huerter trade.

The Hawks also received first-rounders in 2025 (unprotected via the Los Angeles Lakers) and 2027 from the New Orleans Pelicans in trading Murray away.

That Lakers pick is a fitting asset for the Hawks to own in the context of the panel’s discussion.

“It's not exactly the same as the [Russell] Westbrook trade, because that was coming off of a team that had won a championship in LA,” Brian Windhorst said. “But that Westbrook trade, really to this day, is having lingering effects on the Lakers. And that Dejounte Murray trade is going to have an effect on the Hawks for a long time.”

The Lakers completed a five-team trade sending Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, and the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 draft (Isaiah Jackson) to the Washington Wizards for Westbrook.

They would need a three-team deal to get Westbrook to the Utah Jazz two years later. The difference is the amount of draft capital the Hawks surrendered for Murray.

The only player in that deal was Danilo Gallinari, though Huerter was a casualty.

It is also key to note that the Lakers’ pick that the Hawks own is from LA’s three-team trade for Anthony Davis in 2019. That was the spark that led to their title run in 2020 during the Orlando bubble.

The Hawks were one year removed from a run to the Eastern Conference Finals and coming off a first-round playoff exit when they traded for Murray in 2022.

They are looking for answers again after another first-round exit and then missing the playoffs.