Hawks May Be Unwilling to Trade This Young Piece for Anthony Davis

The Dallas Mavericks trade rumors are all saying that Anthony Davis could be on his way out soon. The Mavericks are starting their rebuild around Cooper Flagg and are hoping to land some more young pieces or picks in return for Davis. 

One team that has been linked as a possible Davis trade destination is the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are trying to restructure their team to be more focused on the rising star Jalen Johnson, rather than Trae Young. Some people believed that the Mavericks could be targeting former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher as a piece in return for Davis.

NBA Insider Sam Amick reported that the Hawks might not be willing to put their young forward in the deal. 

“Yet while the Mavericks are known to be pushing for young prospects (and expiring contracts) in talks relating to Davis, Hawks sources pushed back hard on reports that they’d be willing to include 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher. While the second-year small forward has struggled in his second season, team officials are quick to point out the highlights from the tail end of his rookie season that inspired such optimism about his development internally.”

It makes sense for the Hawks to want to see a little bit more of Risacher before giving up on him. Even though he isn’t looking like a star quite yet, he is still extremely young and has shown bright flashes in his short career. 

Trading for Davis at all is a big risk. With an injury history like AD’s, you never know what you are going to get. The Hawks are going to need to really debate just how much they want to give up to take on a risky (and expensive) asset like Davis.