Newly acquired Hawks big man drawing trade interest

The Hawks were expected to be active on the trade market this offseason, fielding offers on Dejounte Murray, Trae Young, Clint Capela, De’Andre Hunter, and just about every player not named Jalen Johnson.

Shortly after the NBA Draft, Atlanta agreed to deal Murray to New Orleans in exchange for four players and two first-round picks. It was the biggest domino expected to fall for the club this Summer, but the Hawks were still mentioned in trade rumors, mostly circulating around Young, Capela, and Hunter.

It’s abundantly clear that the Hawks aren’t interested in trading Trae Young at this point, but that isn’t necessarily the case for Capela, who the club has been trying to trade for more than a year.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many suitors; in fact, it seems another Atlanta big man is drawing more interest on the trade market. According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the Hawks have been shopping Capela, but it’s the newly acquired Larry Nance Jr. that is garnering more interest.

“The Hawks have been trying to trade Clint Capela for more than a year, but league sources say that the Atlanta big man drawing the most external interest is newly acquired Larry Nance Jr.,” Stein writes. “Word is Nance, who came to the Hawks in the recent Dejounte Murray trade, is being chased by multiple teams in need of proven size.”

The 31-year-old was one piece of the Dejounte Murray trade, but he doesn’t really have the production that Capela had last season, granted in a lesser role. Nance averaged 5.7 points and five rebounds per game off the bench, while Capela posted 11.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game as a starter and 12 more games than Nance.

The key difference is probably tied to their contracts. Capela is owed $22.2 million, while Nance is set to make half of that as both enter the final year of their respective contracts. The Hawks should be trying to stockpile as many assets as possible, so I’d hope they’re listening to trade offers for anyone that isn’t in their long-term plans.

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