Hawks Trade Rumors Report: Rudy Gobert – The Hawks signed Frank Kaminsky Friday afternoon to play a reserve role in the frontcourt, but there are still open roster spots as the team gets deeper into free agency and the offseason.
Atlanta has been the subject of a bevy of trade rumors – Report: Hawks, Jazz Rudy Gobert trade talks never went anywhere. Report: Hawks, Jazz Rudy Gobert trade talks never went anywhere rumors, with John Collins, Clint Capela, Kevin Huerter, Kevin Durant, Deandre Ayton, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and more all being linked to the team. It shouldn’t surprise Hawks fans either; Tony Ressler and Travis Schlenk made it clear that upgrades were coming this offseason, after failing to survive the first round of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion.
Before free agency even began, the front office struck a deal with San Antonio that sent Dejounte Murray to Atlanta in exchange for Danilo Gallinari and multiple first-rounders. Prior to the Murray trade, I was against any thought of bringing Ayton and Gobert to Atlanta. They just aren’t that much better than Clint Capela, not enough to warrant $40+ million per year. However, after landing Murray, I was more open to the idea.
Additionally, those trade discussions — particularly surrounding Gobert — never even took off. Jake Fischer, on his podcast Please Don’t Aggregate This, reported that trade talks between the Hawks and the Jazz lasted about 20 minutes, citing Capela’s relationship with Young as one of the reasons a trade seemed unlikely.
That seems weird to say the relationship would be the sticking point, rather than the package of picks and players Minnesota had to give up for Gobert’s services. He is also 30 years old and on a supermax contract that will pay him $47 million in the final year. It just didn’t seem like a smart allocation of the team’s assets.
On the other side of things, Capela is on a palatable contract and has great chemistry in the pick-and-roll with Trae Young. That’s on top of anchoring the defense; the Frenchman is a critical piece of this team’s success. Capela had the fourth-best on-off differential among Hawks players, per Cleaning the Glass.
Re-signing Murray will be the priority moving forward, but as it stands today, the Hawks are better off where they are now instead of investing in a 30-year-old defensive specialist with little to no value on the offensive end.
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