NBA Trade Grades: Thunder sending Carmelo Anthony to Hawks in 3-team deal
Atlanta Hawks
For the last few months, there had been reports about Dennis Schroder wanting to talk with management about the direction of the franchise and that he was willing to be moved to a more competitive team. It wasn’t surprising, then, to learn the Hawks were ready to move on from their flawed starting point guard as well.
With the drafting of Trae Young and Kevin Huerter, not to mention the recent trade to bring aboard Jeremy Lin, one could literally count the remaining grains of sand in the hourglass counting down his time in Atlanta.
The writing was on the wall for Dennis Schröder in Atlanta, considering they just drafted Trae Young and acquired Jeremy Lin. He hasn't been the best starting point guard, but it'll be interesting to see how he performs as a backup in OKC. He's a definite upgrade over Ray Felton.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 19, 2018
This move is an excellent one for the Hawks, allowing them to part ways with an embattled young point guard with his fair share of flaws.
At 24 years old, Schroder still has a lot of room for growth, but his game is inherently flawed. He’s not a good defender, he has no 3-point range to speak of (29 percent last year, 32 percent for his career) and he’s hardly looked like the franchise point guard Atlanta envisioned when it moved on from Jeff Teague to promote him into the starting five.
Though Schroder averaged a career-high 19.4 points and 6.2 assists per game last year, he wasn’t much of a facilitator or leader, and failed to prove himself as anything more than a below-average starting point guard in this league. Given that he was being paid like an above-average one, with three years and $46.5 million left on his contract, it was time to pave the way for the future.
Atlanta gets loose of Schroder and get a (protected) pick for a cash transaction, the Thunder get excellent backup depth.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) July 19, 2018
With Schroder’s money off the books, the Hawks simply have to carry one year of Melo’s remaining salary. Even at $27.9 million for 2018-19, that’s not a problem for an Atlanta team that’s going to be patient with its rebuild through youth and would rather clear Schroder’s long-term money from the cap sheet.
So essentially, the Hawks get rid of a player they needed to trade without having to surrender any notable assets (no offense, Mike Muscala), they have plenty more cap room to look forward to next summer when Anthony’s bloated salary comes off the books, they pocket a protected 2022 first-rounder, and they add a young, defensive-oriented wing in Justin Anderson.
I still believe in Justin Anderson as well.
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) July 19, 2018
This is a miraculous trade for the Hawks.
Anderson, 24, has struggled to find his footing in the league and is now joining his third team in his fourth NBA season. Still, he’s a tenacious defender and should compete for minutes among Atlanta’s glut of wing options. Even if he doesn’t pan out because of his lack of shooting, this is still a winning move for the Hawks.
Grade: A