With Jalen Johnson out for the season, the Hawks are in a curious position ahead of the trade deadline. There’s a case to be made that they should be buyers and sellers, and the most recent trade rumor suggests that could be the case.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic reports that the Hawks and Suns have talked about a trade surrounding Jusuf Nurkic.
“Sources have informed The Arizona Republic the Suns have been talking to teams throughout the league about trading 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic, with the Atlanta Hawks being one of those teams.”
Pheonix recently traded one of their first-round picks for three other first-rounders from the Jazz. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported earlier this week that the Suns are trying to pair up one of the following with Nurkic to land a “high-level” rotation player.
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2025 – Least favorable between Cleveland or Minnesota.
2027 – Cleveland, Minnesota or Utah.
2029 – Cleveland, Minnesota or Utah.
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Rankin floated the idea of a trade between the Hawks and Suns that would send Nurkic and a first-rounder for Bogdan Bogdanovic, which would at least nearly match salaries.
Bogi is in the second season of a four-year, $68 million deal, scheduled to make $16 million in each of the last two years of the contract. Meanwhile, Nurkic is in the third season of a four-year, $70-million contract, due $18.1 million this season and $19.2 million in the final year of his contract.
That’s a steep price for a guy averaging 8.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game for the Suns this season. Bogi is much more valuable to a team like the Suns than the Hawks, and if it were me as the GM, I’m demanding two of those first-round picks to take on a terrible contract in Nurkic, which I’m sure the Suns aren’t keen on doing.
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