NBA Trade Deadline 2018: The 20 best players available

17. Kent Bazemore, Atlanta Hawks

When the Atlanta Hawks signed Kent Bazemore to a four-year, $70 million contract in the summer of 2016, few people batted an eye. Thanks to an unprecedented spike in the salary cap, teams threw around money left and right in free agency, overpaying a host of middling players without regard to the future ramifications of such bloated deals.

A year-and-a-half later, that decision looks far more questionable. Bazemore hasn’t taken major strides forward since his career season in 2015-16, and with the Hawks now mired in the beginning stages of a long-term rebuild, they’re rightfully hoping to escape from paying a 28-year-old swingman nearly $18 million annually through 2019-20.

“League sources say the right combination of ending contracts and a first-round pick, even one highly protected might be enough to get Bazemore in trade, especially for a team looking for a scoring punch,” Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler reported in mid-December. “Of all of the players likely to be moved this trade season, Bazemore may be one of the harder players to trade, but if a team were serious about trying to get him, the word is he could be had and for not a lot in return.”

The Hawks may have to swallow a bad contract in return for Bazemore just to make salaries balance in any prospective trade, but it would be more palatable if they received a draft pick or a young, out-of-favor prospect as well. The challenge on Atlanta’s end will be finding a suitor willing to part ways with such assets for a wildly overpaid player.

Next: 16. Jordan Clarkson