Atlanta Hawks: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
Shipping out Spellman
In maybe one of the more head-scratching trades and another quiet move by the Hawks, Schlenk traded with his former organization, the Golden State Warriors. Between swapping Omari Spellman and Damian Jones, the teams traded project players with each other.
Sources: Atlanta is trading C/F Omari Spellman to the Golden State Warriors.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 8, 2019
On the Hawks’ end, trading away Spellman seems rash as he never really found his footing with Atlanta. He did appear in 46 games, including 11 starts, but posted averages of 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
He has a decent range from the floor, as he hit 34.4 percent of his 3-pointers, but was just a 40.2 percent shooter overall.
Spellman may have been destined to ride the bench with those numbers, but was still a stretch 4, something which seems to fit the culture of the Hawks.
In return, the Hawks received center Damian Jones, which helps fill more of a need for the Hawks currently. Before the trade, the Hawks had John Collins, Hunter, Parsons, Reddish, Huerter, Bembry and Crabbe filling out the wing positions, making Spellman a little more expendable.
With Jones, the team has more of a true center that can join the rotation behind Alex Len and Bruno Fernando.
Instant analysis of the Damian Jones-Omari Spellman deal: Though both players present challenges, Warriors trade a superior athlete for someone with the skills to be a better basketball player.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) July 8, 2019
In a Q&A session with Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he asked general manager Travis Schlenk his thoughts on the Spellman trade.
"Q. Can you give me any insight on the trade of Omari Spellman? A. It balanced our roster out a little bit. Getting (Damian Jones) back who can play center and we get a future pick for taking on very little salary."
There were also reports of Spellman’s conditioning not being on par with what the Hawks’ expected. But whether or not that was the case, Jones provides some toughness on the interior of the defense when given the opportunity.
In limited action last year — 24 games, 22 of which were starts for the Warriors before he tore a pectoral muscle — Jones blocked 25 shots. Spellman blocked the same amount of shots, but also played twice as many minutes as Jones.
If Jones’ athleticism pans out, this could turn out to be a savvy move by the chess master Schlenk. If not, no harm, no foul, as Jones’ contract is just another of many that come off the books for Atlanta after the 2019-20 season.
Grade: B-