11/12/19
Hawks acquire Trae Young in three-team deal
The Atlanta Hawks announced today that they have secured highly rated point guard Trae Young in a trade involving the San Diego Eagles and Washington Wizards.
San Diego sent Young, Norman Powell and Jordan Hill to the Hawks in exchange for Juan Hernangomez, EC Matthews and a 2020 first round pick (which is top 3 protected and originally from Denver).
Washington acquired Dennis Schroder from the Hawks and San Diego received Brandon Knight from the Wizards as part of the trade.
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The Hawks are in the midst of a rebuild and have been looking for a player to be the new face of their franchise ever since Al Horford left for Boston in 2016. They may now have two, with Trae Young and rookie Romeo Langford both looking very promising.
Young was drafted with pick 49 in 2018. His stocks fell drastically because he spent most of his draft year recovering from broken ankle. In his rookie season with San Diego he managed just 41 games, but by February 2019 he was looking like his pre-injury self.
Juan Hernangomez has been a solid role player for the Hawks. But his loss won't be a massive one as they also have Jared Sullinger and Ivan Rabb on their roster. His expiring status probably also made it easier for them to part with him.
Atlanta are surprisingly in the playoff race right now despite everyone tipping them to finish bottom of the eastern conference this season. They hold the 8th seed thanks to an 11-11 record.
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It may surprise some people then that the Eagles decided to trade Young. There are a few factors reportedly behind the decision.
Firstly, the Eagles already have a young, star point guard on their team. Dennis Smith Jr was named as the Rookie of the Year in 2017-18, then led the newly formed franchise to the playoffs in only their second season.
He also has a good chance of making his first all-star appearance this season with over 550,000 votes already cast in his name.
The other major reason for trading Young is directly related to his draft position. Because he fell into the second round, the Eagles only managed to sign him to a two-year deal. He was set to be one of the most sought after restricted free agents at the end of the season.
So the Eagles were looking at having to pay their 21 year old backup point guard an eight figure salary per season. Or risk losing him for nothing.
With Nikola Vucevic, TJ Warren and Greg Monroe all earning over $20 million next season and newly-arrived Malcolm Brogdon due nearly $17 million, they really needed to reassess their cap situation.
And that isn't even accounting for the mega deal that Smith Jr will surely get in a couple of years time.
Brandon Knight should provide a good veteran backup for the Eagles. His contract is also expiring, so they don't have to worry about him taking up salary cap room in the long term.
The future first round pick could turn out to be pretty handy too. Originally traded to Atlanta by the Nuggets in the Paul Millsap deal, it currently would be pick 12.
San Diego are holding their own in the relentless western conference. They hold the 7th seed right now with a 12-11 record, as they look to make the playoffs once again.
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The deal was pretty much agreed in principal last week, but due to San Diego not wanting to take on the multiple-year contract of Dennis Schroder, the Hawks had to find a third team to take the German.
Washington stepped in to facilitate the deal by sending the expiring contract of Brandon Knight to the Eagles. The Wizards basically got a younger, more productive point guard just for taking on an extra year of salary.
It's a long way back for the Wizards though as they currently sit in 14th place in the eastern conference after a 7-15 start to the season.
They really should improve with a core of Bradley Beal, Jahlil Okafor, Otto Porter and Dennis Schroder. Not to mention promising youngsters Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo.
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Reports out of Atlanta suggest that the Hawks are preparing a long-term deal for Young already. One estimate put the contract in the ballpark of four years, $70 million. It's a lot of money, but a lot of people honestly believe that Young could turn out to be another Stephen Curry.
San Diego are apparently engaging with the agent of Juan Hernangomez to work on an extension for the Spanish forward. No details about a potential deal have been released yet.
Atlanta receive
Trae Young - 21 - PG - $1.1m - 1 year (78)
Norman Powell - 26 - SG - $30m - 3 years (77)
Jordan Hill - 32 - PF - $6m - 1 year (76)
Projected line-up:
Tyler Zeller - Jared Sullinger - Kent Bazemore - Norman Powell - Trae Young
Reserves:
Ivan Rabb, Isaac Bonga, Taurean Prince, Jeremy Lamb, Jordan Hill, Romeo Langford, Alex Len, Jordan Brown, Frank Mason III, Mario Chalmers
San Diego receive
Brandon Knight - 28 - PG - $15.6m - 1 year (79)
Juan Hernangomez - 24 - PF - $3.3m - 1 year (76)
EC Matthews - 23 - SG - $1m - 1 year (69)
2020 first round draft pick (top 3 protected - via Denver)
Projected line-up:
Nikola Vucevic - Greg Monroe - TJ Warren - Malcolm Brogdon - Dennis Smith Jr
Reserves:
Brandon Knight, Juan Hernangomez, Omer Yurtseven, Montrezl Harrell, Devin Robinson, Tyus Battle, Jason Smith, Kevin Thomas, EC Matthews, PJ Tucker
Washington receive
Dennis Schroder - 26 - PG - $37m - 2 years (82)
Projected line-up:
Jahlil Okafor - Bam Adebayo - Otto Porter - Bradley Beal - Dennis Schroder
Reserves:
Bojan Bogdanovic, Malik Monk, Markieff Morris, Ian Mahinmi, Trey Burke, Chris McCullough, Daniel Gafford, Ben Johnson, LiAngelo Ball, Marcus Lee
Trade overview