NBA Shootaround: Are the Hawks the new 76ers?
Thursday night, as snow started to fall in Philadelphia, the Atlanta Hawks grabbed a jenga piece from their roster.
There's a lot we could talk about. The first returns of the All-Star voting are in. Zaza Pachulia's fan club is still trying to take over. Joel Embiid is continuing his reign at the top of the 'Best of social media' list (a list I just made up). Injuries. Stomach bugs. Rockets vs. OKC. Etc., etc., etc.
But, Thursday night, as snow started to fall in Philadelphia, the Atlanta Hawks grabbed a jenga piece from their roster.
The Vertical reported that the Hawks were finalizing a deal with the Cavaliers on Thursday evening that will send Kyle Korver to Cleveland in exchange for Mike Dunleavy, Jr. and a protected 2019 first-round pick. And, talks about finally trading forward Paul Millsap were in the works. So let's look at what this means.
Kyle Korver to the Cavs. Since J.R. Smith's recent thumb surgery has him sidelined for what could be the rest of the regular season, the Cavaliers are in need of someone to hit from the arc.
Fast-forward to the NBA Finals for what looks like years to come, where Golden State and Cleveland (who will pay deep into luxury taxes) will add whoever they want, whenever they want in order to keep throwing punches at each other in a rivalry that will last until LeBron James calls it quits. Speaking of James, he's definitely the guy that you want to play with when your greatest strength is a spot-up three...Defenses beware. Well done Cleveland, celebrate this one.
The Hawks' future. It started with departures of DeMarre Carroll, Jeff Teague, and Al Horford. The 60-win team that touted four All-Stars in its starting lineup kept getting swept by the Cavs in the playoffs, and things weren't looking up. So the Hawks' front office decided to move in a different direction.
Korver and Millsap are the last holdovers from that starting lineup that looked like it could shake up the East but never did. Atlanta is in complete rebuild mode (Philly, you can sympathize with this). The next pieces to go are surely Millsap and Thabo Sefolosha, and honestly there aren't many in Atlanta that are safe at this point.
The domino effect. This is the kind of trade that puts the rest of the league on alert. With Millsap on the market (he's been there a while), and Atlanta willing to wheel and deal well before the Feb. 23 trade deadline, there are already reports that multiple teams are in talks to get their hands on the versatile forward (Denver, Sacramento, Toronto).
He's the kind of player who can potentially make a difference if used in the right way on the right team. And, once the remaining big pieces from Atlanta are gone, that will give the Eastern teams a chance to wiggle up the standings, because let's face it... Kent Bazemore is not going to keep the Hawks in the playoff picture.
Let the games begin.
Must Watch List
All times are Eastern.
Jazz at Grizzlies, Sunday, 8 p.m., NBA TV. They are fifth and sixth out West, the kind of match-up that makes for great tv with crafty players and a lot on the line when they play each other.
Cavaliers at Trail Blazers, Wednesday, 10:30 p.m., ESPN. This will be the first nationally televised game for Cleveland post-Korver addition. Maybe Kevin Love will be back from a bad case of food poisoning and the stomach bug that has plagued the nation will have left the roster alone. Maybe Kyrie Irving's hamstring won't be sore and he'll battle it out against Damian Lillard.
League Pass Alert: Hornets at Spurs, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. Young up-and-coming team against the sage wisdom of Gregg Popovich's squad. This is where lessons are learned.