NBA Analyst Shares What The Atlanta Hawks Goals Should Be At The Trade Deadline

Will the Hawks make any big additions or subtractions at the trade deadline?

Dec 2, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela (15) shoots over New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray (5) in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Hawks are surging right now and have won five straight games, including two wins over the Cavaliers and a win over the Bucks last night that ended their seven-game winning streak. They are now tied for 5th place in the Eastern Conference and playing great basketball. With their record at 12-11 and the way they are playing, it will be interesting to see how the Hawks handle the trade deadline.

Trade deadline talk might seem crazy right now, but the Hawks have some interesting decisions they will have to make. Do they just keep this group together and see how far they can go? Will they try to add pieces? You can make an argument in a lot of directions for the Hawks. They have two centers on expiring contracts (Larry Nance Jr and Clint Capela) and of those two, Nance seems like the most likely trade candidate. He is still a very good player but is not playing minutes for the Hawks as long as Capela and Okongwu are both healthy. While De'Andre Hunter was mentioned a lot over the summer as a trade candidate, he is playing the best basketball of his career right now and looks like a legitimate candidate for the Sixth Man of The Year Award. So what should the Hawks plans be? Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus shared his thoughts recently about that topic:

Goal: Opportunistic improvement

Name(s) to watch: Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, Larry Nance Jr., De'Andre Hunter

"The Hawks are better than they were a year ago but aren't yet an upper-tier contender in the Eastern Conference. Capela and Nance are on expiring contracts. Do the Hawks view Okongwu, who plays 23.7 minutes off the bench, as a replacement starter for Capela (who averages 22.8)? Should the team cash out on Hunter's strong play or hope he can stay healthy to help the team win?

The answers aren't clear yet, but Atlanta doesn't have its first-round pick in 2025 (going to the San Antonio Spurs), so any form of "tanking" is out."

I think that the best course of action for the Hawks right now is to keep the team until it gets closer to the deadline, barring some incredible deal that is presented to you. This team is legitimately playing very well right now and while they are not NBA Finals Contenders, they could get into the top six of the East. They are currently tied with the Bucks for 5th and the Eastern Conference looks subpar as a whole right now. I think this team should be given an opportunity to continue that upward trend and see where they are closer to the trade deadline. It appears that this Hawks team may have turned a corner and they will have the opportunity to show that in big games vs the Lakers and Nuggets coming up, as well as the NBA Cup vs the Knicks.

Additional Links:

2025 NBA Mock Draft: Atlanta Lands Five-Star Georgia Forward In Latest Mock

Atlanta Defeats Milwaukee 119-104 To End The Bucks Seven Game Winning Streak While Increasing Theirs to Five