NBA Trade Grades: 76ers Ship Off Ersan Ilyasova To Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
Earlier on Wednesday, Hawks general manager Wes Wilcox reaffirmed that Paul Millsap would not be traded, that re-signing him was the team’s No. 1 priority over the summer and that Atlanta would be entering the 2017 NBA Trade Deadline as buyers.
Wilcox was true to his word just hours later, but whether or not this is the right course of action for a franchise perpetually doomed to Good But Not Great territory remains to be seen.
In a vacuum, this is something of a winning deal. Splitter had been a massive disappointment since joining the team, playing a grand total of 36 games in a Hawks uniform (all of which came in 2015-16) because of injury problems. He hasn’t played a single game this season because of calf and hip injuries and last year, he only averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game anyway.
Tiago Splitter played in 36 regular-season games and 0 playoff games for the Hawks.
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) February 23, 2017
Losing Splitter doesn’t hurt in the slightest, and rather than just let his $8.5 million salary come off the books this summer, the Hawks were able to turn his useless contract into a stretch-4 who could actually help them in the playoffs this year.
Ilyasova did a tremendous job revitalizing his value in Philly, averaging 14.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on 35.9 percent shooting from three-point range in his 53 appearances for the Sixers.
Mike Budenholzer’s squad will enjoy his perimeter shooting off the bench, especially since they rank 25th in three-point percentage (34.1 percent). They’re only 0.5 games out of home-court advantage in the playoffs as well.
Nice move for the Hawks getting Ilyasova. They have needed a stretch 4.
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) February 23, 2017
However, as much as giving up two second-rounders seems harmless, one has to wonder if the Hawks are going about this trade deadline the right way.
They’ve been mired in mediocrity for pretty much every season over the last decade except 2014-15 — good enough to make the playoffs, but not great enough to actually do anything while they’re there.
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That doesn’t figure to change this year, with the Celtics and Wizards on the rise and the Raptors snagged a game-changing power forward in Serge Ibaka. Washington helped its bench out by trading for Bojan Bogdanovic and the Celtics are still poised to make a blockbuster move.
While there’s something refreshing — especially after the DeMarcus Cousins debacle — about Atlanta’s loyalty and commitment to Millsap, the Hawks are likely looking at overpaying for a 32-year-old free agent this summer as the centerpiece of a core that probably won’t challenge Cleveland, Boston, Toronto or Washington in the East.
Splitter was useless and losing those two second-rounders doesn’t hurt much, but even if the trade is a good one without context, the bigger picture makes one wonder how exactly the Hawks plan on improving moving forward — especially with Ilyasova coming off the books this summer and not moving the needle enough to change Atlanta’s playoff fate this year anyway.
Grade: B-