Atlanta Hawks: 5 Early Season Takeaways
5. The Tim Hardaway Jr. Trade Is Still Bad
On draft-day 2015, the Hawks had the 15th overall pick in the draft. With the world wondering how Atlanta would be able to re-sign both Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll, the logical thing to do in the draft seemed to be drafting a wing. Technically, the Hawks walked away with a wing player after the draft, but it was far from the one that people were expecting.
In a three-team trade involving the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks, the Hawks traded down from No. 15 to two future second rounders and Tim Hardaway Jr., from the Knicks. The Wizards used the 15th pick to select Kelly Oubre Jr. from Kansas and the Knicks walked away with Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant at No. 19.
Seems like there were a lot of useful guys the Hawks could have picked in the Draft instead of trading for Hardaway, who hasn't played yet.
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) November 11, 2015
With Dennis Schroder as a backup point guard, Grant wouldn’t have done the Hawks much good. But passing on a physical specimen like Oubre who has the potential to be great in the future (despite failing to crack Washington’s rotation thus far) feels like a mistake, especially with Hardaway’s less than stellar numbers during his first two seasons in New York.
In his first two years in the league, Hardaway averaged 10.8 points per game and shot 35.3 percent from three-point range…but his production came on 40.8 percent shooting overall for two losing teams. He’s a virtual traffic cone on defense and since he hasn’t played a single minute for Atlanta this season, it’s safe to say the Hawks should’ve at least drafted a rookie to glue to the bench.
Next: No. 4