NBA Trade Rumors: Lakers Reportedly Attempted To Acquire Atlanta Hawks Star At The Trade Deadline

This was a mostly successful season for the Hawks, even if they did not make the playoffs. This was a young team that had a lot of unknowns heading into the season, but a lot of those questions got answered. Dyson Daniels was the perfect backcourt teammate with Trae Young and showed why he is one of the best defenders in the league while improving by leaps and bounds on offense. Zaccharie Risacher showed continued improvement and was one of the best rookies in the NBA this season. Onyeka Okongwu took over as the starting center and showed that he could hold that position for the Hawks, while Jalen Johnson looked like an All-Star. If Johnson had not suffered a season-ending injury, as well as Larry Nance and Clint Capela getting injured, the Hawks might have been a top-six seed in the East.

Atlanta highly values this young core, but that has not stopped teams from trying to pry away members of it. ESPN's Los Angeles Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin spoke about the Lakers failed pursuit of Okongwu on “Straight Fire” with Jason McIntyre:

Before the Mark Williams trade, and I can’t tell you all the names on that list but I actually assume he was one of the names on the list that Rob Pelinka presented to Luka because I do know the Lakers made a call to the Hawks around the trade deadline about Okongwu. I think lob threat, athleticism, absolutely. In terms of being a perfect fit, maybe not. They might not get a perfect fit though. Clint Capela of ’17-’18 might have been a perfect fit but we’re in ’25-’26 now. So that is kind of the spot they’re gonna be in. I am of the opinion to not go all in on a Claxton or someone who makes $20-30 million… They’re gonna have the taxpayer mid-level available to them, so I’d try to go and get a guy at that level and if he doesn’t prove to be the best fit, make sure you’re holding on to one of your picks and then you can try to pursue something come February.”

This young core is one reason for optimism in Atlanta and Okongwu was a big reason for that. The Hawks seem to be moving forward with Okongwu as the starting center and this would be the first year of his career that he has been in that position. Not only did Okongwu play really well down the stretch of the season, but he is on one of the best contracts for a center (or anyone) in the NBA. It would be foolish for the Hawks to move on from him as the starting center unless there is a clear upgrade available and that option does not seem to exist. Atlanta should be very excited about the progress that they saw from Okongwu, especially on the defensive end and the advanced numbers suggest that Okongwu and Jalen Johnson pair really well together. With Johnson healthy, Atlanta could get an even better version of Okongwu than they saw in the back half of this past season.

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