Atlanta Hawks: 3 players most likely to be traded before deadline

1. Kent Bazemore

Kent Bazemore has consistently drawn trade interest over the last few months and it isn’t hard to figure out why. He’s developed a reputation as a reliable 3-and-D player over the last few seasons, and since those sort of players are in short supply, it makes sense that teams would kick the tires on the 29-year-old.

Of course, three factors could affect how much the Hawks could get in return for the veteran swingman:

1.  His substandard production from 3-point range at 32.7 percent
2.  His $19.2 million player option for 2019-20 (which he’ll almost certainly pick up)
3.  An ankle injury that has him out indefinitely (the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Chris Vivlamore reports there is no timetable for his return)

Still, Bazemore has shown flashes of competent 3-point accuracy, shooting 37.1 percent on wide open 3s, and has graded well defensively.

Assuming he gets healthy before the deadline, there’s a good chance that any interested teams will chalk his long range struggles up to some poor luck — he’s shooting 23.5 percent on 3s when a defender is between 4-6 feet away, which qualifies as an open look — and bite the bullet on his contract to take advantage of the floor-spacing and athleticism he brings on both ends.