Atlanta Hawks: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
Shipping off the farm for De’Andre Hunter
While Cam Reddish was the draft pick that the Hawks were happy to pluck at pick No. 10, it was really the No. 4 pick, De’Andre Hunter, that the team was really hoping to land. Let’s quickly recap how this trade actually came to fruition, largely thanks to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Los Angeles Lakers originally owned the No. 4 draft pick, but the New Orleans Pelicans forced them to pony up the pick when trading away Anthony Davis.
This pick wouldn’t officially come to the Pelicans until July 6, but as soon as the teams agreed upon including the pick, it was back on the trading block for the rest of the NBA, with the Hawks beating out a few other teams.
But if it wasn’t for the earlier deal with the Nets, the Hawks wouldn’t have been in position to make the trade up for No. 4; early in June, the Hawks agreed to swap Allen Crabbe and Taurean Prince, with the Nets including the No. 17 pick in that deal.
That pick turned out to be Nickeil Alexander-Walker, to which the Nets added their 2020 top-14 protected first-rounder for Prince and a 2021 second-round pick from the Hawks.
Once the Hawks received Alexander-Walker, they promptly shipped him, Texas center Jaxson Hayes (their original pick at No. 8 pick) and Marcos Louzada Silva (the team’s original pick No. 35) to the Pelicans for Solomon Hill, De’Andre Hunter and Jordan Bone (the Pelicans’ pick at No. 57).
The Hawks also included one of their future firsts in shipping off their bevy of early picks for Hunter, the Cavaliers’ 2020 highly protected first.
While the Hawks still lack a true rim protector, they still improved their defense by adding De’Andre Hunter.
Not only was he widely considered by many a lock down defender on the perimeter in his two years in college for Virginia, he was also a big part of one of the best defenses in all of college basketball.
Hunter was also a big catalyst in helping the Virginia Cavaliers rebound from being the first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament to be knocked out by a 16 seed in the 2017-18 season. In 2018-19, Virginia survived many close games and were able to hoist the 2018-19 NCAA championship.
Hunter went from coming off the bench for 19.9 minutes per game his freshman season to starting all 38 games as a sophomore. He raised his points from 9.2 to 15.2 and his rebounds from 3.5 to 5.1, all on a per game basis.
Hunter was able to grow in just a couple of years of college ball and should be able to do the same for the Hawks. Though pressure will be on to contribute right away though as the No. 4 pick of the draft and the Hawks lacking identity.
The big potential for this trade to sting even more is the Cavs’ top-10 protected pick.
If Cleveland finishes as poorly as they did last year and stay in the top-10 of the lottery, they’ll keep their pick in the next draft and will only have to send the Pelicans a second round pick from 2021 and 2022; if they all out the lottery though, that’s just another arrow in the quiver for New Orleans, not Atlanta.
In the long run, the Hawks probably won’t miss that pick, but they could have added another prospect too if they pick does convey in 2020.
Grade: B+