Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Atlanta Hawks
For a team that focuses a lot on the offensive end of the court and has the main goal of building a sustainable young core through the NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks should definitely be interested in this trade. While giving up John Collins may not be ideal, they get a player in Miles Bridges who has just as much potential to be a great role player for years, as well as three NBA Draft picks.
Starting with Miles Bridges, he could really make a difference for the Hawks in their second-unit when this team is at full-strength. So far this season, the Hornets have utilized his talents off-the-bench and while his points per game average is down from a year ago, all of his shooting stats are up.
Going against second-unit players and being able to use his athleticism to his advantage has worked in his favor this season and moving forward, could be something he looks to build upon. Atlanta has a lot of wing talent, including young players such as De’Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish, but Bridges can play alongside them as his bigger frame and strength allows him to guard numerous positions.
As much as Miles Bridges could have an impact, so could all the NBA Draft picks the Hawks would receive from trading John Collins to the Charlotte Hornets. Two second-round picks in 2021 and a first-round pick in 2023 could be heavily utilized by the Hawks to not only make the playoffs this season, but for many years to come.
There are plenty of players on the trade market this year that could make an impact on a playoff-caliber roster and with the Hawks being one of those teams that could sneak into one of the final spots in the Eastern Conference, they could definitely trade one or two of these NBA Draft picks to bring in a great talent to put next to Trae Young.
Even if they hold off on making any trades near the deadline, they still win in the sense that they could use all of these NBA Draft picks to fill-out their roster in future years with talented players to put around their top guys in Young, Bogdanovic and Gallinari.
Trading John Collins may not be ideal at the moment, especially because of how good him and Trae Young are together on the court, but moving forward, this could be one of the better deals Atlanta could get for the young big man. If Collins opts to enter free agency and not re-sign with the Hawks, they will be kicking themselves for not dealing him this year.
