BOSTON — The NBA trade deadline is near.
The Hawks’ season has not unfolded the way they may have imagined. But when they began the year, a few of their top priorities included internal development and laying the groundwork for winning habits. While they did not put a timeline on when they needed to complete that foundation, they have seen some of those habits in their recent win streak at home.
They’ve gone 5-5 in their past 10 games and have won four of their past six with the roster back to full health.
Now, they face the league-leading Celtics one night before the NBA’s trade deadline, which comes at 3 p.m. Thursday.
So, the Hawks can answer some questions regarding the moves that they might make to try to improve the roster.
To move or not move Murray?
In the two months leading to Thursday’s deadline, one of their top guards’ name became a frequent fixture in trade rumors. Hawks guard Dejounte Murray first appeared in trade rumors in January.
The question was whether Murray and the team’s star guard Trae Young could play off of each other, as well as together. The two showed a number of flashes of the good that could come when they played connectedly. But just as often as those flashes appeared, the two sometimes seemed just as disconnected.
Over the past month, Murray has shown a strong body of work, averaging 23.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 16 games. He’s made 47.7% of his overall shots and 34% of his six 3-point attempts.
Plus, Murray has bailed out the Hawks a few times in the clutch with a couple of back-to-back game-winners and a midrange jumper that forced overtime.
The Hawks have fielded calls from numerous teams regarding Murray, according to a person familiar with the situation. But ultimately, they want to do the right thing for the team long term.
One team frequently linked with the Hawks as a trade partner has been the Lakers. But so far, both sides clearly have not reached the right deal that benefits them both.
Addressing their lack of depth?
When the season began, the Hawks believed they had a deep roster that could compete. While the team has competed, long-term injuries to Jalen Johnson and De’Andre Hunter exposed that the Hawks have depth issues past the top eight players in the rotation. The Hawks went 4-10 in Johnson’s absence and 7-12 without Hunter.
The absences of their top two forwards showed just how much the Hawks lack size in their rotation despite them elevating the 6-foot-7 Saddiq Bey from his role off the bench. Both Johnson and Hunter stand at 6-9 and 6-8, respectively. Plus, they possess the ability to handle defensive switches to smaller or bigger players, and their absence showed just how much the Hawks still need to improve on defense.
Though the Hawks had some solid efforts from Garrison Mathews, Patty Mills, Trent Forrest and Wesley Matthews, they did not have enough scoring from their reserves to sustain some of their runs. That problem often was exacerbated when they bumped Bogdan Bogdanovic into the starting lineup in the absence of either of their top guards.
So, the Hawks could use the deadline as a way to address the lack of depth and size.
Can they make something happen?
The Hawks reportedly have made pretty much everyone but Young and Johnson available for potential deals. So, the team could create a couple of enticing packages, should they find the right partner.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, they do not have many first-round picks at their disposal because they used three of them and a pick swap to complete the trade for Murray. As of now, the Hawks do not own their own first-round pick until 2028. They do have a protected first-rounder from the Kings, which they netted in the Kevin Huerter deal.
There’s always the offseason
With so much to mull over, the Hawks very well could opt to wait until the offseason, should they believe it will provide a clearer picture.
They got a small sample of what their fully healthy roster could achieve. Plus, the recent connected play of Murray and Young once again raises the question of whether the two could make their partnership work.
So, it still remains to be seen if the Hawks have done anything by the time the 3 p.m. Thursday rolls around.
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