Proposed mock draft trade sees Hawks offload burdensome contract at steep cost

The Atlanta Hawks are far from desperate.

Even if one is down on their transition from the Dejounte Murray-Trae Young era to the Trae Young & Co. era, they have shown they are not eager to make deals simply for the sake off doing so.

Case in point: Center Clint Capela, who was of interest to the New Orleans Pelicans in the Murray trade.

So this suggestion from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps would be far from par for the course.

During a mock expansion draft, Bontemps – acting as the general manager of a faux Las Vegas franchise – offered a trade to the “Atlanta Hawks,” run by colleague and former Brooklyn Nets executive Bobby Marks.

“De’Andre Hunter is unprotected,” Bontemps said on “The Hoop Collective” podcast on September 19. “The Hawks have potentially been interested in trying to clear salary for a little bit. You have a Laker pick, which is really interesting in the 25 draft. I'm not going to ask for that even though I would ask for that first.

“Would you do De’Andre Hunter for the King’s first, which is top-12 protected and then top-10 protected? Probably going to be somewhere in the teens and you guys save a ton of money, opens up money to get Jaylen Johnson on an extension and gets me a first-round pick.”

Marks accepted, perhaps sending the exercise off the rails.

Leaving Hunter unprotected in an expansion draft situation makes sense. The Hawks forward has been bandied about in trade speculation and could even lose his starting spot to rookie No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher.

He is also expensive in Year 2 of a four-year, $90 million contract and has dealt with injuries throughout his career.

But surrendering draft capital to get Hunter’s contract off the books would be short-sighted.

Hunter’s shortcomings are often emphasized. The No. 4 overall pick of the 2019 draft and the highest-drafted player on the Hawks’ roster before Risacher’s arrival, Hunter has proven to be solid to good at most things but not great at anything.

That includes defensively where he often handles the opponent’s top perimeter player adequately.

He is still a useful rotation player when healthy.

De'Andre Hunter's value to Hawks outweighs perceived trade value

Hunter has been the Hawks’ best two-way player for years. That seems bound to change with Riacher and fellow 2024 offseason arrival Dyson Daniels in tow. Neither of those players offers the size that Hunter does, though Risacher is longer at 6-foot-10.

The Hawks also do not control their own draft picks, keeping them somewhat locked into trying to remain competitive. 

Giving up picks and players is the antithesis of that.

The Hawks held on to John Collins for years amid trade rumors. Their return at the time – a soon-to-retire Rudy Gay and a conditional second-round pick – seemed low at first blush. But Collins has found his way back to the trade block with the Utah Jazz.

Ditto for Kevin Huerter, whose trade to the Sacramento Kings gave the Hawks the pick in question.

The Hawks even did well with the picks they did get back for trading Murray.

They are still upside down in that regard, surrendering four firsts and getting two back. But even then they were meticulous in finding a suitable deal rather than accepting what was initially on the table.

Hawks general manager Landry Fields has faced plenty of criticism for his decisions since taking over (and some made before he did).

He might be a more shrewd operator than he is being given credit for. Maybe.