Who would be the best partner for Trae on the Hawks in the NBA?

[Threezus]

If you could trade for a player realistically to pair with Trae or the type of player who would you want to target.    We all know Embidd Giannis etc... would be great but thinking more realistically a player we could legit maybe acquire with the assets we have.     This would include people like  Murray, Capela, JC, 1 or 2 of our young guys we all like and a 1st round pick or 2.   You could mix and match those assets to pickup your guy without crippling us.      

For me i think i might have messed up on thinking Murray was that type of player although it's still 1st year so who knows.  But where i think i messed up is how much i didn't understand how badly Murray needed to be on ball like Trae to be super effective.   That and i thought maybe Trae could do more off ball and be effective but i just don't see it from either of them. 

So maybe i should have looked at and targeted a more known sure 2 way offball player that can still score at a good clip.    This could be any position it doesn't need to be another guard.    So who in yalls mind even if it's not what i think player type wise do you think would be best possible choice to pair with Trae and that type of player?

Posted this on Realgm as well to see get a inside hawks fan perspective and outside hawks fan perspective.

To me a fully healthy AD would be a great fit for Trae but lord knows him staying healthy is almost impossible lol

Edited April 26, 2023 by Threezus

[benhillboy]

The ideal backcourt mate for Trae (career 115 offensive/ 117 defensive rating) is a huge 2 who doesn’t “need” the ball, loves to cut, great defender all around, solid rebounder who can shoot the three, finish strong, post up, bring it up, has a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio with outstanding toughness and makeup.  Basically a young Jimmy Butler (122/ 107) with a three ball.  Who knows how much he’d cost.

Since no player like that exists here’s the next best guys to me and their career offensive and defensive ratings:

Delon 118 110 

Pat Connaughton 117 110

Austin Reeves 127 117 

Josh Hart 116 112 

Grayson Allen 117 114

Another ball dominant, “star” beside him just isn’t ideal.  I’m all for it in the front court.

I like Caruso, Melton, and THT as a project.  None of them are simply good/ big enough.

Edited April 26, 2023 by benhillboy

[benhillboy]

This was the Hawks on/off profile after 5 playoff games last season:

Here it is this postseason:

I’m sorry y’all it’s gonna take me some more time to get over Delon leaving.  I’ll be alright.

Edited April 26, 2023 by benhillboy

[JustSomeGuy]

I agree Delon was a great fit for his game and should have been a starter last year but Paul George is the perfect complimentary star with Trae (and DJ) sans injuries. 
Smart, instinctive, great defender, good shooter, can create for others and a good rebounder.

[ShooterSays]

In his prime, Klay Thompson would have been perfect. Heck, he’s still really good. I remember him going for 60 a few years ago on like 11 dribbles.

I also think Jaylen Brown and Trae would work. JB probably needs the ball a little more than Trae would like, but hard to pass up his size, defense, and shooting. He’s also from Atlanta so might be some incentive for him to want to be here. We can talk best fits all we want, but the players HAVE to want to be here.

Also, he’s still raw, but AJ Griffin checks a lot of boxes of being an ideal fit next to Trae if he can keep developing. Big upcoming summer for him.

Need to think about front court players a little more…

[NBASupes]

KAT, Embiid would be the optimal but he's not available. 

Edited April 26, 2023 by NBASupes

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, benhillboy said:

The ideal backcourt mate for Trae (career 115 offensive/ 117 defensive rating) is a huge 2 who doesn’t “need” the ball, loves to cut, great defender all around, solid rebounder who can shoot the three, finish strong, post up, bring it up, has a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio with outstanding toughness and makeup.  Basically a young Jimmy Butler (122/ 107) with a three ball.  Who knows how much he’d cost.

Since no player like that exists here’s the next best guys to me and their career offensive and defensive ratings:

Delon 118 110 

Pat Connaughton 117 110

Austin Reeves 127 117 

Josh Hart 116 112 

Grayson Allen 117 114

Another ball dominant, “star” beside him just isn’t ideal.  I’m all for it in the front court.

I like Caruso, Melton, and THT as a project.  None of them are simply good/ big enough.

Delon is a tad too limited on offense and too small next to Trae at the 2. We need prime Danny Green.

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, benhillboy said:

The ideal backcourt mate for Trae (career 115 offensive/ 117 defensive rating) is a huge 2 who doesn’t “need” the ball, loves to cut, great defender all around, solid rebounder who can shoot the three, finish strong, post up, bring it up, has a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio with outstanding toughness and makeup.  Basically a young Jimmy Butler (122/ 107) with a three ball.  Who knows how much he’d cost.

Since no player like that exists here’s the next best guys to me and their career offensive and defensive ratings:

Delon 118 110 

Pat Connaughton 117 110

Austin Reeves 127 117 

Josh Hart 116 112 

Grayson Allen 117 114

Another ball dominant, “star” beside him just isn’t ideal.  I’m all for it in the front court.

I like Caruso, Melton, and THT as a project.  None of them are simply good/ big enough.

I've always thought and still think that Klay Thompson would be the ultimate fit for Trae.   I measure everybody with the Klay Thompson measure.    So Josh Hart falls in the category.  Originally Delon didnt because of his size but his play won me over and I would love to have him back.   I have hope that AJ Griffin will improve his game and naturally step up. 

 

[Diesel]

24 minutes ago, ShooterSays said:

In his prime, Klay Thompson would have been perfect. Heck, he’s still really good. I remember him going for 60 a few years ago on like 11 dribbles.

I also think Jaylen Brown and Trae would work. JB probably needs the ball a little more than Trae would like, but hard to pass up his size, defense, and shooting. He’s also from Atlanta so might be some incentive for him to want to be here. We can talk best fits all we want, but the players HAVE to want to be here.

Also, he’s still raw, but AJ Griffin checks a lot of boxes of being an ideal fit next to Trae if he can keep developing. Big upcoming summer for him.

Need to think about front court players a little more…

Damn, I didn't read your post before I wrote mine but damnit, you have said everything I was thinking except JB...  I can't like JB right now because he's the enemy! 

 

[ShooterSays]

44 minutes ago, ShooterSays said:

I also think Jaylen Brown and Trae would work. JB probably needs the ball a little more than Trae would like, but hard to pass up his size, defense, and shooting. He’s also from Atlanta so might be some incentive for him to want to be here. We can talk best fits all we want, but the players HAVE to want to be here.

Anyone catch Jaylen Brown’s hat last night?

 

[Peoriabird]

I would agree with prime Klay Thompson would be optimal but I want to see what A'J Griff can do next season.  Griff has the size and offensive skill.  Want him to work on his defensive foot work and team defensive instincts

[bird_dirt]

What if we trade one Murray for another?

DJ for Jamal. 

[Peoriabird]

18 minutes ago, bird_dirt said:

What if we trade one Murray for another?

DJ for Jamal. 

No Thanks

Current Contract

Jamal Murray signed a 5 year / $158,253,000 contract with the Denver Nuggets, including $158,253,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $31,650,600. In 2023-24, Murray will earn a base salary of $33,833,400, while carrying a cap hit of $33,833,400 and a dead cap value of $33,833,400.

[capstone21]

Mikal Bridges is probably the perfect partner but he is not attainable .

[Spud2nique]

I would have to go PASCAL SIAKAM

He can seal his man down low, commands a double most often, he knows what he can do and does it well, rarely makes bone headed plays and got that championship pedigree with the African strength.

He is attainable. The cost, no clue. I’d put JC, CC and/or picks on the table.

Plus he’s a throw back mature player who was tutored by Kawhi, showed up big in a big moment and got that chip.

BSPN trade machine worked with Siakam and OG for JC and CC but that’s not realistic, I would do it in a second for sure.

[ShooterSays]

12 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

I would have to go PASCAL SIAKAM

He can seal his man down low, commands a double most often, he knows what he can do and does it well, rarely makes bone headed plays and got that championship pedigree with the African strength.

He is attainable. The cost, no clue. I’d put JC, CC and/or picks on the table.

Plus he’s a throw back mature player who was tutored by Kawhi, showed up big in a big moment and got that chip.

BSPN trade machine worked with Siakam and OG for JC and CC but that’s not realistic, I would do it in a second for sure.

I like OG a lot, but I think it would either take DJ or multiple firsts to get him and I don’t want to give up either. 

Siakam is super intriguing, but I just think we need someone bigger to pair along with OO…someone like Porzingis.

Trae and OO are both super talented, but definitely not the easiest to build around lol

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, capstone21 said:

Mikal Bridges is probably the perfect partner but he is not attainable .

He would be the most optimal 3 for sure. 

My optimal Trae squad

Trae

Prime Danny Green

Mikal

Okongwu

KAT

[JayBirdHawk]

I would like to give Quin more than 20+ in season games to work out DejounTrae. 

 

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, ShooterSays said:

Porzingis

Hell no he just wanted to get paid. Not paying him for the next whatever years to be a lazy hurt dude.

[Threezus]

Sorry fam just woke up so just now getting back to the thread lol.  Some very good answers in here and alot of the same answers fans of other teams had as well.   A few of the guys that were multiple replies were  Paul G and Leonard.  I think we all know Klay would be a perfect fit he is pretty much the staple of what a elite off ball 2 way player is lol.   I forgot about AJ Griffin a bit.  But PB is right that he could for sure grow into that type of player as his skill set is very fit toward that.

My top 5 guys i have always thought were the best fits  were  George, AD, Brown, Butler, and Klay     Some of those probably aren't attainable or what they use to be. But were the type of players at different positions i seen that would fit best.