Atlanta Hawks enter 2019-20 looking to build on young core
By Phil Watson
2019-20 roster
Key additions: Cam Reddish (draft), Evan Turner (trade), Allen Crabbe (trade), Bruno Fernando (draft/trade), De’Andre Hunter (draft/trade), Chandler Parsons (trade), Damian Jones (trade), Jabari Parker (free agency).
Key subtractions: Deyonta Davis (waived), Kent Bazemore (trade), Dewayne Dedmon (free agency), Alex Poythress (free agency), Justin Anderson (free agency), Taurean Prince (trade), Miles Plumlee (trade), Omari Spellman (trade), Jaylen Adams (waived).
General manager Travis Schlenk almost used up his unlimited minutes with the amount of activity he was involved with this offseason, which began on draft night when they started swapping picks around.
They traded a second-round pick to the Miami Heat on the eve of the draft for a heavily protected 2024 second-rounder and picked up a 2024 second-round pick from the Golden State Warriors for the rights to No. 41 overall pick Eric Paschall.
That was just the beginning.
Before the start of the new league year, the Hawks sent veteran Kent Bazemore to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for veteran Evan Turner in a wing exchange.
The next domino to fall was the trade agreed upon with Brooklyn before the draft that sent Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick to the Nets for Allen Crabbe, the rights to Nickeil Alexander-Walker — the No. 17 overall pick — and a lottery-protected 2020 first-rounder.
That pick is lottery protected through 2022 and if not conveyed will become second-rounders in 2022 and 2024.
Alexander-Walker’s rights were then packaged with eighth overall pick Jaxson Hayes, second-rounder Didi Louzada and a top-10 protected 2020 first-round pick to the Pelicans for Solomon Hill, the rights to No. 4 pick De’Andre Hunter and second-rounder Jordan Bone and a top-45 protected 2023 second-round choice.
That first-rounder becomes 2021 and 2022 second-round picks if not conveyed next spring.
Bone went with a 2020 second-round pick (bottom-five protected) and their best 2023 second-round pick (their own, Brooklyn’s or the Charlotte Hornets‘) to the Philadelphia 76ers to get the rights to second-round pick Bruno Fernando.
Hill was packaged with Miles Plumlee and shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies for Chandler Parsons, entering the final year of the ill-fated four-year, $94 million deal he signed in 2016, a contract under which he has appeared in 95 games so far.
Finally, former first-round pick Omari Spellman and a traded-player exception were sent to Golden State for Damian Jones and a second-round pick in 2026.
In free agency, the Hawks added Jabari Parker — coming to his fourth team in three seasons — and retained ageless Vince Carter for his record-breaking 22nd NBA season and a well-deserved farewell tour.
After the dust settled, the Hawks have 14 players on their 20-man roster for training camp that have three years or less in terms of NBA experience. Put another way, the 19 players not named “Vince Carter” have a combined 48 NBA seasons under their collective belts.
Growing pains? Yes, there will be some. But as evidenced by their solid finish to last season, there is a lot of potential for Atlanta to get well quickly from the painful rebuilding process.
Here are the storylines to watch.