The Hawks have been looking for a true big-man that can protect the rim and clean the glass for months now. They’ve been linked to Steven Adams, Dewayne Dedmon, a litany of others, and most recently, Clint Capela. And less than 48 hours before the trade deadline, they finally completed a deal, except it won’t go down as the most straightforward transaction.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hawks, Rockets, Timberwolves, and Nuggets have successfully agreed upon a four-team trade that will send Clint Capela and Nene to Atlanta.
ESPN Sources: 4-team trade agreement: Houston: Robert Covington; Atlanta: Clint Capela and Nene; Minnesota: Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, Evan Turner, ATL 1st round pick via Nets; Denver: Gerald Green, Houston FRP.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 5, 2020
The best part about this agreement is that it doesn’t include John Collins, who has been rumored to be on the trading block by many. Atlanta’s major contribution to the trade will be the Nets protected first-round 2020 pick. To many teams, that may be a valuable commodity. But for the Hawks, who are already littered with young talent and will probably have a top-five pick of their own in this year’s draft, it was easy to part ways with.
Capela is averaging nearly 14 points and 14 rebounds this season. He fills the Hawks’ most glaring need at the center position and should allow Collins to slide over to his more natural power forward spot full-time.
For those of you wondering if this trade puts Collins’ future with Atlanta in jeopardy, I wouldn’t say so. It would make the most sense for the Hawks to see how these two can co-exist before trading the second-most valuable player on their roster. Capela is under contract for the next three seasons at a reasonable rate and should make the rest of this year much more watchable for Hawks fans.
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