The NBA's offseason is officially underway after the first major trade of the new year took place on Wednesday. It's a three-team trade involving Atlanta, Utah, and Indiana.
Here are the details:
- The Hawks will send Jeff Teague to the Pacers
- The Pacers will send George Hill to the Jazz
- The Jazz will send the No. 12 overall pick in Thursday's NBA Draft to the Hawks.
Here's analysis of the trade and grades for each team. And here's a quick rundown on how the move affects each team's plans in the NBA Draft.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks are obviously the team most affected here in terms of the draft. The team did an excellent job getting a late lottery pick for Teague, a player with one year left on his contract who likely would not have been in Atlanta for the 2017-18 season due to the tension between he and Dennis Schroder in regard to their roles on the team. Essentially, the team traded one year of control for potentially eight years of control on a lottery talent, and that's smart asset management.
In picking up the No. 12 pick from Utah, the Hawks have now placed themselves into a different tier of talent and become one of the most draft capital-heavy teams for Thursday's event. The Hawks also still have No. 21 overall, as well as No. 44 and 54.
In terms of who they could target based on position, it'll be interesting to see if the team looks to find a point guard to replace Teague. Atlanta will likely now hand the keys to Schroder, but there is precious little depth behind him in terms of ball-handlers. The team also has potential holes to fill on the wing and inside, as Kent Bazemore and Al Horford are free agents. It's worth noting though that even with Horford's cap hold, the team still has right around $24 million in cap space, and could look to make some upgrades in free agency even while holding out hope that Horford decides to return. How the Hawks plan to allocate their resources toward free agency versus the draft will be interesting, and it puts a wide variety of players in the mix for them in the first round.
Sometimes, workouts can tell the tale of who a team may be looking at. A player they've worked out who could slot in for them at No. 12 is Malachi Richardson -- a Syracuse wing whose stock is on the rise in NBA circles. DeAndre Bembry, Thon Maker, Taurean Prince and Cheick Diallo are others who have worked out in Atlanta and would be slight reaches, but also could fit with what Atlanta is looking for. Particularly among that group, Diallo is known to have had a strong workout in Atlanta.
Teams don't always feel the need to work players out before selecting them though, and other fits in the No. 12 range could include Utah's Jakob Poeltl, Vanderbilt's Wade Baldwin, Washington's Dejounte Murray, Gonzaga's Domantas Sabonis, Michigan State's Deyonta Davis, France's Timothe Luwawu, and Marquette's Henry Ellenson. It's also worth noting that the team now has draft capital in a major way with four selections on Thursday, meaning a trade up, down, or out can't be ruled out depending on the direction the team has decided to go in regard to contention or rebuilding.
Regardless of specifics, the Hawks are now one of the teams that will tell the tale of this draft in a big way.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz have now moved out of the lottery and first round entirely, as they filled one of the most gaping holes on their roster with this trade. In fact, the team realistically could have tried to find a player like Hill in the draft. Hill is a perfect fit for Utah on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the team really values length and the ability to switch onto bigger players. Hill has a 6-foot-9 wingspan and the ability to do just that. Offensively, Hill's ability to play both on and off ball was likely a major selling point to the Jazz, who have two terrific creators on the wing in Rodney Hood and Gordon Hayward. Hill can take over as a ball-handler when necessary, or spot up and knock down open shots if need be.
It's also worth pointing out how Hill's acquisition meshes well with Dante Exum. Exum is still the point guard of the future, and Hill's presence doesn't change that due to his versatility on both ends of the floor. Maybe the asset management wasn't the best -- trade potentially eight years of control for one is never one that looks great on the face of things -- but if the team can look to re-negotiate and re-sign Hill, those concerns go away and this becomes an unquestionably smart move for Utah.
The Jazz still have No. 42, No. 52 and No. 60 in the draft, as well, so their work on draft night will not be done. The team will likely be happy though to absorb Hill into their scheme for No. 12, as he fits their team like a glove and will have much more impact than a rookie would have in 2016.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers' move here is more about offense than anything. Indiana has been looking to move to a more up-tempo scheme over the last year, and Teague's quickness and shooting ability should allow them to do that relatively easily. It's also been reported by The Vertical that the team will look to move into long-term contract negotiations with Teague, meaning the need for a point guard has been diminished a bit. That negotiation will work as a re-negotiation followed by an extension. Pacers fans should expect Teague to make more than double his current salary of $8 million this season following this re-negotiation into their cap space, that way the team can get him signed to an extension in his hometown.
In terms of the draft, a move like this may pave the way for the team look more in the frontcourt at No. 20 overall, something they probably were doing anyway. Particularly, I'd look at guys like Brice Johnson, Cheick Diallo, and Damian Jones as potential fits for Indiana at that spot. The team also has pick No. 50.
Other teams
This move likely won't have a ton of impact on the teams around the No. 12 pick, No. 20 pick, or No. 21 pick as the teams there now will likely be looking at the same type of prospects they were prior to the draft. There will not be a massive restructure in terms of how teams need to project their boards going prior to their pick.
