Ranking the Atlanta Hawks' best trade assets from picks to players

Hawks picks and pricey players in Tier 4 trade assets

10) 2029 first-round pick

This pick suffers because the 2028 pick should yield a top draft pick or a player worthy of bringing the Hawks closer to title contention if they have not yet reached that point.

11) 2030 first-round pick

Picks this far out have more value for older teams. The Hawks will likely have aged out their current veterans by the time this pick comes up. Will they be competitive by then? Trending up at least?

12) 2031 first-round pick

The same goes for this pick: it would be more valuable if the Hawks were a veteran-heavy team. But their offseason swing ensured some more longevity with some of the core pieces.

13) De’Andre Hunter

De’Andre Hunter has been the Hawks’ best perimeter defender for years, which speaks volumes abut the team’s level of play on that end.

Hunter is a good not great defender in Year 2 of a four-year, $90 million contact.

“I'll just say we know that the Hawks have been looking to unload DeAndre Hunter, right, who is owed about $22 [million] this year, $23 [million] next year, $25 [million] the year after that,” MacMahon said on “The Hoop Collective” podcast on September 10. “That's not a great contract.”

Hunter’s offense has been a valued – and needed – asset. But he also has durability issues that have limited his effectiveness. Hunter also joked about not working on anything in particular over the 2023 offseason and proceeded to post a very similar stat line as the season prior.

14) Clint Capela

Clint Capela is on an expiring contract and has been an anchor of the Hawks’ defense since arriving in 2020. In what is a theme for many players on this roster, injuries have sapped his effectiveness in recent years.

It has also hurt his trade value.

“The Hawks have been trying to trade Clint Capela for more than a year,” Stein wrote in a line that sums up why the 2020-21 rebounding champion is this low.

Interchangeable Hawks in Tier 5 trade assets

This group can be ranked in any order depending on the prospective suitor. None of them figure to bring back more than second-round returns in a trade, and even that might be a little too ambitious.

Kobe Bufkin was the No. 16 overall pick in 2023 but has been derailed by injuries. He likely has more value to the Hawks than anyone else, a telling sign for the others in this tier. 

David Roddy is an undersized (height-wise) power forward with a limited game.

Vit Krejci proved to be a valuable piece of the bench for the Hawks and may be ranked too low on this list. He is a 6-foot-8 point forward who also shot 41.2% from beyond the arc for the Hawks in 2023-24.

Garrison Mathews is like Krejci without the height or playmaking. But he is still a willing defender, specifically when it comes to drawing charges.

Cody Zeller is the Hawks’ tallest player at 6-foot-11.

That adds to his value on what has been an undersized team in recent years. The soon-to-be 32-year-old veteran of four NBA franchises is also not likely to garner much interest barring an extremely specific instance like needing to complete a trade.

The Hawks swung a trade to acquire Mouhamed Gueye’s draft rights from the Boston Celtics in 2023. Like, Bufkin, though he was derailed by injuries as a rookie.

Nikola Djurisic is not technically on the Hawks’ roster. He was acquired in a three-team draft night trade but remains unsigned and could return overseas for next season.