The Atlanta Hawks are sizzling right now. Winners in seven of their last nine games, the Hawks have gone from fighting for play-in seeding to the No. 7 spot in the east.
Even so, the Hawks have one issue that has become especially apparent lately: they don’t have a reliable backup point guard. Kobe Bufkin’s lack of production had already been glaring, but now the second-year pro is set to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
Bufkin had been averaging a lowly 5.3 points on 38.3% shooting from the field. To make matters worse, the sophomore guard had only converted 21.1% of his 3-point attempts. Now that Bufkin’s injury news has come out, the 2023 first-round pick’s struggles make a bit more sense. Snyder had already removed Bufkin from the rotation altogether across Atlanta’s last four games
Only left with Vit Krejci to lean on in Bufkin’s absence, the Hawks should look for a backup point guard on the trade market. And the first place they should look is Washington.
The Wizards are on pace to win 10 games. They have no reason to keep any of their vets. That’s where Malcolm Brogdon comes in.
Malcolm Brogdon would give the Hawks a roster with no significant holes
Brogdon may not be playing at the level that won him Sixth Man of the Year two seasons ago, but circumstances matter. And his current circumstances are as bad as they get.
Despite the dysfunction around him, Brogdon has still produced solid numbers for Washington. Averaging 13.8 points on 49.5% shooting, the 32-year-old still has much to offer as a scorer and ball handler. Brogdon was also born and raised in Atlanta, meaning he would get to come home if the Hawks traded for him.
In a Dec. 16 article by Bleacher Report, NBA writer Greg Swartz floated Brogdon as a sensible option for Atlanta and suggested that a veteran with playoff experience would make the most sense as a Hawks trade target.
“Finding a backup point guard to help spell Trae Young (36.0 minutes a game, 15th-highest in the NBA) should be the goal, preferably a veteran with some playoff experience,” Swartz wrote. “Brogdon should be extremely available from the lowly Wizards.”
The Hawks have leaned on a versatile roster with depth at most positions. With the addition of a player like Brogdon, Atlanta would officially boast multiple quality options at all five positions. Loaded with reliable wings and bigs, the Hawks have only needed more backup for Trae Young. Handing backup point guard minutes to Vit Krecji probably won’t cut it if the Hawks want to make their mark in the playoffs.
Ice Trae has played a career-high 36.1 minutes per game. The superstar floor general has put together an elite playmaking campaign, but he still hasn’t fully found his shooting rhythm (38.9% from the field). Some extra rest could benefit Young’s shot in the long run.
Malcolm Brogdon’s salary would require Atlanta to trade away multiple players
Brogdon’s expiring contract also makes him a relatively low-risk option for the Hawks’ long-term payroll. However, he is making over $22 million this season.
For the Hawks to trade for Brogdon without losing key rotation players, they would almost certainly need to include Larry Nance Jr.’s expiring $11.2 million contract. Because Atlanta is hard-capped at the first tax apron, the team would also need to attach at least two other players. Given their absence from the current Hawks rotation, Cody Zeller and David Roddy would be prime candidates for such a package.
Hawks ownership has tended to stay below the luxury tax in recent seasons, meaning Atlanta would probably have to trade even more players to match Brogdon’s money. The Hawks are sitting at roughly $1.3 million below the tax, meaning they would have to take back less than that amount to stay below the tax line.
If the Hawks added Bufkin himself (or whoever the team may add to the roster with a Disabled Player Exception) to the Nance/Zeller/Roddy package, they would be able to make a Brogdon deal work.
If they wanted to pull the trigger here, the Hawks would probably want to ensure that Brogdon would resign on a more team-friendly deal. Then again, Atlanta could easily lose Nance – the best player in this potential deal, by far – for nothing next offseason if they don’t deal him at this season’s trade deadline.
Assuming Washington simply wants expiring money and draft compensation for Brogdon, Landry Fields can pull this off if he wants to. Given Bufkin’s injury and Atlanta’s lack of point-guard firepower off the bench, the Hawks might want to consider adding the 2023 Sixth Man of the Year.