{"id":112895,"date":"2024-12-18T08:35:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T13:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=112895"},"modified":"2024-12-18T08:35:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T13:35:20","slug":"hawks-deandre-hunter-nuggets-trade-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/18\/hawks-deandre-hunter-nuggets-trade-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawks Breakout Player Among Nuggets\u2019 Trade Targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an effort to improve their offense, the Denver Nuggets \u201chave either expressed interest in<\/a>, or have had preliminary trade discussions on\u201d several scorers, according to Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic. Their focus is currently centered<\/a> on Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine<\/a>, a two-time All-Star. However, Atlanta Hawks breakout performer De\u2019Andre Hunter<\/a> is also on their shortlist.<\/p>\n

Hawks Breakout Player De\u2019Andre Hunter Among Nuggets\u2019 Trade Targets<\/h2>\n

As Hunter makes $21.6 million this season, Denver can either trade a high-salary player for him or gut their depth. Considering Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth\u2019s stance on the latter<\/a>, it\u2019s more realistic to expect a deal with less of a potential ripple effect. That makes Michael Porter Jr.<\/a>, another forward whose offensive impact is essentially confined to his scoring ability, the most likely player to be dealt in this scenario.<\/p>\n

In making this trade, Atlanta would be sacrificing a high-end defensive player. However, Porter is an aggressive scorer, whereas Hunter wasn\u2019t a consistent shot-hunter until the back half of 2023-24. In terms of intangibles, his longstanding friendship<\/a> with Hawks face of the franchise Trae Young<\/a> is another factor to consider.<\/p>\n

That being said, Porter makes $35.8 million this season. As a result, the Hawks would have to include more salary to make the trade work.<\/p>\n

Bogdan Bogdanovic Too?<\/h3>\n

If the Nuggets are indeed interested in Hunter, he may not be the only scorer taking his talents to the Mile High. Atlanta could go multiple directions in their efforts to make salaries match, including using Larry Nance Jr.<\/a>\u2019s expiring $11.2 million contract. However, they have one player whose price tag, play style, and personal life are of much interest to them: Bogdan Bogdanovic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bogdanovic played alongside Jokic on the Serbian national team in this summer\u2019s<\/a> Paris Olympics. Among the most consistent three-point shooters in the league, he could start alongside his countryman or help carry the bench. Making $17.2 million this season, his salary is just high enough to get them past Porter\u2019s threshold. There could still be other moving parts in the trade though.<\/p>\n

DaRon Holmes II.. Atlanta?<\/h3>\n

The Hawks could send Cody Zeller<\/a> and David Roddy<\/a> to Denver as well. Zeller has yet to join Atlanta after being traded by the New Orleans Pelicans in the offseason and may desire a change of scenery. Roddy, who starred at Colorado State, has played relatively well but isn\u2019t expected to be with the Hawks long-term.<\/p>\n

Moving those players wouldn\u2019t add much value. Nonetheless, it could entice the Nuggets include promising 2024 first-round pick DaRon Holmes II<\/a> in the deal. Holmes is out for the season with a torn Achilles<\/a> but looked as good as advertised prior to his injury.<\/p>\n

Clint Capela<\/a> is on the final year of his contract, which is among the reasons he\u2019s on the trade block. Whenever his time in Atlanta is up, Onyeka Okongwu<\/a> has the fast track on his starting spot. However, Holmes could then replace Okongwu as the second unit anchor.<\/p>\n

The Chess Move<\/h3>\n

Frankly, the Hawks would be getting the short end of the stick in this transaction, which is why they must extract a first-round pick from Denver. Due to the Stepien Rule, the Nuggets can\u2019t simply add one to the deal. However, Atlanta could swap their 2025, 2027, and 2029 first round picks for Denver\u2019s 2026, 2028, and 2030 first-rounders.<\/p>\n

If the Hawks trade the protected 2025 first-round pick they received from the Sacramento Kings, which is unlikely to convey at this rate, it\u2019ll be the equivalent of adding a first round pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an effort to improve their offense, the Denver Nuggets \u201chave either expressed interest in, or have had preliminary trade discussions on\u201d several scorers, according to Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic. Their focus is currently centered on Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, a two-time All-Star. However, Atlanta Hawks breakout performer De\u2019Andre Hunter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":112916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4721,4,1608,20,62],"tags":[1227,4807,1875,1223,4774,457],"class_list":["post-112895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trade-rumors","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-nba","tag-bogdan-bogdanovic","tag-daron-holmes-ii","tag-deandre-hunter","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-rumors","tag-zach-lavine"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112895"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112918,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112895\/revisions\/112918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}