After back-to-back playoff appearances under Nate McMillan, the Atlanta Hawks seem determined to build their team even stronger for the 2022-23 season. And they just pulled off another big trade to help.
According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hawks are trading starting shooting guard Kevin Huerter to the Sacramento Kings. In exchange, the Hawks are getting Justin Holiday, Mo Harkless and a future first-round pick.
Huerter started a career-high 60 games for Atlanta this past season and averaged 12.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game over 74 games.
Holiday averaged 10.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in 2021-22 split between the Kings and the Indiana Pacers.
Harkless was a bench player for most of the 2021-22 season. He averaged 4.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
Atlanta is trading Kevin Huerter to Sacramento for Justin Holiday, Mo Harkless and a future first round pick, sources tell EPSN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022
Kings wanted to get better and more versatile on the wings and do that with Huerter and free agent Malik Monk. Both will play next season at 24 years old and fit into the age timeline with Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022
The Atlanta Hawks have already augmented the guard position by bringing on All-Star Dejounte Murray in a blockbuster trade. They also added point guard Aaron Holiday in free agency, who played well off the bench last season.
Atlanta is just one year removed from a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history. Clearly they believe they have a window where they can make a serious run at the NBA title.
With the players they have and the moves they made, they certainly appear to be a little closer than this past year, when they were bounced in the first round.
Who do you think won this trade?