Posts about De'Andre Hunter
The Hawks have been among the league’s most active teams in trade talks, eager to reduce their overload of long-term contracts and address their status as a middle-of-the-pack team mired in tax territory. Trading John Collins is Atlanta’s ongoing top priority, but there has clearly been more interest in DeAndre Hunter and Clint Capela. They’ve also been trying — without success — to convince Toronto to part with Pascal Siakam.
Per the draft special on ESPN that aired earlier on ESPN: https://twitter.com/627zach/status/1671302843477680130
There has been some murmurs of Clint Capela but most of the reports for those seem to be indicative of the Mavericks trying to trade for him with the 10th pick and one of THJ or Bertans plus the necessary salary filler to make the trade legal. So what do the following players bring along with the 15th pick?
John Collins - At this stage he is a reclamation project. John Collins is bes suited as a big man who can stretch the floor but currently he is too small for a 5, not fast enough for a 4, and with his 3-point shooting falling off of a cliff it's hard to see John and his lengthy, not to mention rather costly, contract moving the needle. There might be some team willing to take on his contract for 15 and John in exchange for role players or an expiring contract but on his own...well, no team is rushing to get him, especially after a career-low across the board despite improving a lot as a defender.
De'Andre Hunter - Hunter is a decent 3 and D wing on a decent contract post-extension. This seemed like the year Hunter was poised to break out and while there were promising flashes at times of the player he could be, he's been a touch inconsistent though it is undeniable that this was his best season yet as a defender.
Dejounte Murray - Murray is either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd best player whose name has come up in trade rumors of late, depending on how much you believe the Pelicans or Raptors trading Zion or Siakam respectively. A 1x All-Star, Murray is a solid two-way guard with a terrific, albeit expiring contract questionable off-court reputation. Dejounte is a solid guard but his fit next to Trae Young has been...not ideal, though it is hard to believe Atlanta would be giving up on the duo so soon unless DJ has told them straight up "I am not re-signing with you guys". There's also been some noise of the Hawks wanting to target Siakam and with both looking for their next contract, but who knows what the Raptors are doing on draft night?
15th pick - There's actually a fair crop of players expected to go within this range that could be impactful or at the very least solid selections outside of the lottery. Names of potential "just outside the lottery/just dropped out of it" candidates include Keyonte George, Leonard Miller, Noah Clownley, Brice Sensabaugh, Dereck Lively, Nick Smith Jr., Olivier-Maxence Prosper, amongst others.
So what does a 15 + Collins, 15 + Hunter or 15 plus Murray combination work out to in trading up the draft? And what player could they expect in return along with a different pick?