Hawks/Nets/Celtics Trade

Hawks Get: Kristaps Porzingis, 2nd round pick (BOS)

Celtics Get: Georges Niang, 2nd round pick (BKN)

Nets Get: Terance Mann, 1st round pick (ATL, 22nd overall)

It’s difficult to find many issues with this trade from the Hawks perspective. Porzingis has his warts; most notably, he’s had trouble staying healthy throughout his career. He’s played in more than 57 games just once in the last six seasons. However, this is a prototypical low-risk, high reward deal for Atlanta.

Porzingis is entering the last year of his contract, set to pay him $30.7 million. That’s a more than fair price for a player of his caliber when he’s on the floor. Over the last three seasons, he’s averaged 21.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 blocks on an even 50.0% shooting from the field and nearly 40% from three. The Hawks have been desperately searching for a stretch big, and Porzingis adds a ton of versatility to a very talented frontcourt that also includes Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu.

A couple of other things to consider with this trade. The Hawks did not use their $25.3 million trade player exception, so they are still in a good spot to bring in another huge piece this offseason. They also cleared a bit of unwanted salary in this deal by sending Terance Mann to the Nets, who is scheduled to make $15+ million over the next three seasons.

Grade: B+

A first round pick for Kristaps Porzingis might be a little stiff, but considering they were also able to rid of Mann and keep the better of their two first-round selections, this feels like a really good deal for the Hawks. Atlanta now has a six-man rotation that can hang with a lot of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, and they are in good shape to add more very soon. Even if this trade doesn’t work out for the Hawks, they can wipe their hands clean of it next offseason without any repercussions and still be in a better standing with the salary cap.