Atlanta Hawks: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
Trading away Kent Bazemore
Kent Bazemore, one of the few players that was on the roster pre-Travis Schlenk, had been on the block for some time, but when he was traded for another guard in Evan Turner and the salaries nearly matched, it went nearly unnoticed and didn’t make a lot of noise outside of the city of Atlanta.
Cap neutral deal for Blazers and Hawks. Portland acquires a wing in Bazemore who'll provide an insurance policy on free agent Rodney Hood. Hood's market value exceeds Portland's ability to keep him using the taxpayer MLE. https://t.co/V1XXBYubmy
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2019
Turns out this trade was a win-win for both sides. Bazemore is more of a true shooting guard as Evan Turner can play both guard positions.
Turner will give a veteran presence to the Hawk’s backcourt. Turner, like Bazemore’s contract would have, will come off the organization’s books after the season as well.
Turner should also provide a small defensive upgrade over Bazemore as well. It should also help pave the way for Kevin Huerter to work his way into the starting lineup more, unless Cam Reddish makes a case right away for getting into the starting lineup at that spot.
Grade: C+