Atlanta Hawks Might Not Be Done Making Big Deals

The Atlanta Hawks are the first team to make waves in the NBA trade market this NBA trade deadline. On Wednesday, they traded their former franchise star, Trae Young, to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. This trade sent news waves through the league, as many believe it could be the first of many dominoes to fall at the deadline.

With this trade, the Hawks are telling the league that they are pivoting towards a different future. Now they are building a defensive juggernaut behind Jalen Johnson, and they may be looking to make more moves to fortify their new strategy. 

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reported that the Hawks might not be done making trades. 

“Atlanta isn’t done. The Hawks now have a pair of significant expiring contracts in Porzingis ($30.7 million) and McCollum ($30.7 million) and draft capital to deal (at least a few rival executives were stunned that Atlanta didn’t need to add a first-round pick as a sweetener). Dallas’s Anthony Davis has been on the Hawks’ radar for weeks, and with some financial clarity, expect Atlanta to ramp up those talks leading into the Feb. 5 trade deadline.”

Could the Hawks be preparing to make an even bigger splash on the trade market? Landing Anthony Davis would certainly make sense. If the team is going to try to be a long, versatile, defensive-focused squad, Anthony Davis would fit in perfectly.

The only problem is that the Hawks have been unwilling to put some of their top young trade assets and draft picks into a possible trade for Davis. If they hold strong on keeping those pieces out of the deal, they may not have enough to pry Davis from Dallas.