NBA Trade Deadline 2018: One trade every team should make

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DENVER, CO – JANUARY 10: Kent Bazemore /

Atlanta Hawks

Send: Marco Belinelli, Tyler Dorsey

Receive: Dakari Johnson, Kyle Singler, 2018 second round pick

The Hawks, despite a few wins in the last few weeks, aren’t going to be a playoff team this year. They lack talent at nearly every position, and are in a position where they can afford to eat a bad contract for a year or two in exchange for draft picks. It seems unlikely that they will get a first round pick for Marco Belinelli or Ersan Ilyasova, but getting a pick they can use on a project is worth it at this point.

Taking on Singler’s contract in exchange for the Thunder’s 2018 second round pick isn’t the best outcome of the trade deadline, but it’s a move to improve them in the future, so it’s one they ought to consider making. Singler is owed about $5 million next season and then has a team option for 2019-20, which the Hawks can decline and clear off their books.

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