With the NBA Draft Lottery complete and the playoff teams dwindling to the final four, it’s now officially rumor season in the Association, as teams are having exploratory conversations about Draft night deals and what’s to come when free agency opens on July 1.
We’re starting to get a feel for the teams that are going to be the most active this summer, headlined by those that felt they underachieved this season and need to make that leap back into contention in 2023. Among lottery teams, the Portland Trail Blazers, holding the 7th overall pick, lead that list (that also possibly includes the Sacramento Kings at No. 4), as the expectation around the NBA is that they will be dealing their pick for a veteran that can provide Damian Lillard with immediate help.
Among playoff teams, there’s no one getting more chatter than the Atlanta Hawks, who fell from an Eastern Conference Finals run a year ago to the 9-seed in the East, having to play their way to the 8-seed through the play-in tournament, only to be swiftly bounced in five games by the Miami Heat. Atlanta’s desire to shake things up is well known, but Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report offered some insight into just how willing they are to make moves on Tuesday, reporting that anyone other than Trae Young is available — and providing a couple big names they might try to get in on via trade.
Behind the scenes, league insiders consistently mention Atlanta as a team willing to make wholesale changes. Rival executives view all Hawks players aside from Trae Young as eligible for trade.
Would a package surrounding Clint Capela help facilitate a sign-and-trade to bring DeAndre Ayton to Atlanta? Ayton has been a popular rumored target for Schlenk’s front office, but multiple league sources with knowledge of the Hawks’ thinking have also pointed to various wing scorers as Atlanta’s prioritized endgame.
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Atlanta has also been mentioned by multiple league sources as a potential destination for Zach LaVine.
Fischer also mentions Detroit, Portland, Charlotte, and San Antonio as other suitors for Ayton, but the Hawks are certainly a fascinating destination, as a swap centered on Capela for Ayton would make sense for both teams and would seemingly come down to what Atlanta was willing to attach in terms of additional assets. Whether that would provide them what they need — someone to alleviate pressure from Young — is a valid question, but they have plenty of other players that could be swung in other trades if they wanted to completely overhaul the roster.
LaVine’s availability has become a hot topic recently as the rest of the league apparently believes he could walk away from Chicago, who would certainly prefer a sign-and-trade over seeing him leave for nothing. Fischer’s report is the first to connect the Hawks to LaVine, but that makes sense in terms of finding a high quality secondary scorer next to Young who can ensure teams can’t mimic the Heat’s swarming attack that forced Young into the worst output of his young career in the first round.