This is the seventh installment in our series looking at the top trades of the 2022 offseason. Unlike giving ratings, this series will explore why the teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into a deal between the falcons Y Kingsβ¦
The day after free agency began, the Hawks agreed to send kevin huerter to the Kings in exchange for justin vacation, Mauricio Harkless, and the Kings’ 2024 first-round pick (protected top 14). If the pick doesn’t air immediately, it would be protected in the top 12 in 2025 and in the top 10 in 2026. If it hasn’t changed hands by then, the Hawks would receive two second-round picks.
The Kings Perspective:
after trying Tyrese Haliburton to Indiana at trade deadline for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonisthe Kings noted that they were building around a couple of dynamic playmakers (the other being De’Aaron Fox), each of which has a clear hole in his offensive repertoire: the three-point shot. The two lefties have nearly identical career percentages from behind the arc, with Fox at 32.0% and Sabonis at 31.9%.
Modern NBA offenses thrive on adequate space, so surrounding the duo with shooters was paramount. Sacramento was only 25 years oldthe in the league in triples, 21St. on three-point attempts, and 24the in three-point percentage last season (34.4%).
Enter Huerter, who averaged 12.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 2.7 APG in 74 games in 2021/22 (60 starts, 29.6 MPG). A look at his shooting numbers reveals that Huerter was an above-average shooter all over the floor, with a true shooting percentage of 57% (58the percentile), 62% borderline (57the percentile), 48% of the mid-range (88%), 38.9% of the three-point range (82North Dakota percentile), and 80.8% of the line (64the percentile), for DunksAndThrees.com.
Huerter’s ’21/22 tally stats are pretty close to his career marks of 11.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 3.2 APG in 274 games (216 starts, 29.6 MPG), so consistent year-over-year production has been a strong selling point for the shooting guard. He has shot between 38.0% and 38.9% from deep in three of his four seasons, with a career mark of 37.9%. He is particularly lethal from the corners, with a career mark of 43.1%, including 44.9% last season.
The 6’7β³ Huerter fits nicely into the Fox (24) and Sabonis (26) timelines, as he turns 24 next month (mitchell davidon turns 24 in September, Monk Malik He is also 24 years old and is in the first round Keegan Murray is 21). He also has a contract for four more years, so he could become a fixture for the club for several seasons.
Although best known for his shooting prowess, Huerter is also a solid secondary playmaker, posting a 2.38-to-1 career assist-to-turnover ratio. He is a very capable passer who shows above average vision for two shooting guards. That should come in handy for the Kings, who were only 22 years old.North Dakota in the league in assists last season.
Huerter has proven himself to be a capable low-end starter in the NBA, and I mean that as a compliment. Being among the top 150 or so players in the best league in the world is no easy task, and Huerter is in that group. He even ends up coming off the bench for the Kings, yet he has shown that he should be considered at that level and would be one of the best reserves in the league.
Huerter has two main weaknesses. For one thing, he is sometimes too passive on offense and avoids contact, which is why he has attempted less than one free throw per game in his career in almost 30 minutes per game, a very low rate. That, in turn, is why his true shooting percentage has only been above the league average once in his career (last season), even though he’s a shooter. strong.
The second weakness is that he is a slightly below average defender. He’s just a good rebounder, and he’s skinny and can be pushed even though he’s tall for his position. Huerter isn’t a liability by any means, like some other shooting specialists are, but he’s not a positive either.
It’s the less glamorous side of the court where I don’t like the treatment for the Kings, who were ranked 27th.the in the league in defensive rating last season. To be fair to them, they needed help in basically every area, and Huerter is certainly a better player than Holiday or Harkless, but not defensively.
new head coach mike brown he’s built his career on being a strong defensive tactician, but he can only do so much with roster personnel. That will continue to be a problem next season for Sacramento, as Fox and Sabonis aren’t exactly defensive stoppers, nor is Monk, whom the team acquired in free agency to bolster his shot.
Holiday struggled in his brief stint with the Kings, making just 34.8% of his field goal attempts in 25 games (he was also part of the Sabonis trade), and Harkless was completely out of the rotation by season’s end. Both players are significantly older than Huerter (Holiday is 33 and Harkless is 29), and neither was in Sacramento’s long-term plans, so moving them wasn’t a huge loss even though they’ve both had long careers for good reason. .
The Hawks Perspective:
Let’s get this straight first: Atlanta doesn’t necessarily want to change to Huerter. Hawks fans will fondly remember his performance in game 7 of the team’s second-round playoff victory over the Sixers in 2021, when Huerter had 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 10-for-18 shooting, helping Atlanta reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in the last 50 years.
Moving Huerter was both a short-term and long-term financial decision. The four-year, $65 million rookie ladder extension he signed just before 21/22 kicked off began next season, and the trade for Dejounte Murray pushed the team into luxury tax territory.
The Hawks already have long-term salary commitments. brings young, john collins Y Clint Capela; murray and Bogdan BogdanoviΔ they are in the books for two more seasons; Y De’Andre Hunter is eligible for a rookie ladder extension this summer. The roster has gotten expensive, and after acquiring an All-Star guard in Murray, one from Huerter or Bogdanovic he became expendable through no fault of his own.
Bogdanovic is a better player overall than Huerter and is more used to coming off the bench, both positives for Atlanta. However, he’s coming off knee surgery, is older (he turns 30 next month) and makes more money over the next two seasons than Huerter, so the Hawks may not have gotten the kind of trade package they’d want. for him.
Holiday and Harkless, who have expiring contracts, will make a combined $10.86MM on 22/23, saving the Hawks $3.64MM after moving Huerter’s salary from $14.5MM. Keep in mind that by acquiring two players for one, the Hawks also don’t have to fill a second spot on the roster — even a minimum-salary deal carries a salary cap of $1,836,090 — so the actual savings on the deal are closer. of $5.48MM when taking that into account.
Of the two newly acquired veterans, I expect Holiday to provide more value on the floor and receive more playing time — he’s a much better outside shooter than Harkless (36.5% career three at much higher volume vs. 32.0%), and I I’m sure the Hawks would like to give the first round of 2021 jalen johnson most playing time in the NBA at the backup power forward position next season.
Both Holiday and Harkless are well-traveled veterans with reputations for putting defense first. Holiday, in particular, provided solid value during his career with the Pacers from 2019-21. His defense wasn’t as sharp last season and his shooting can be inconsistent, but he’s definitely a bounce-back candidate with all the open eyes he’ll have in his second stint in Atlanta.
Still, while the duo shouldn’t be written off, the main draw for the Hawks in their trade with Sacramento was giving up Huerter’s long-term salary and acquiring the 2024 first-round pick.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that pick will air in two years — the Kings have missed the playoffs for an NBA record 16 straight seasons — so the fact that he’s protected by the lottery might not be a big deal. bodes well for Atlanta. However, Sacramento’s roster looks a little better on paper heading into next season, especially on offense, and the club will have one more year to continue to improve before the pick can be broadcast.
If it airs in 2024, both teams would be happy: The Hawks would pick another first-round player, recouping some draft capital after trading three first-round picks (two unprotected) and a pick trade to San Antonio for Murray. , while the Kings would have finally broken their postseason drought.
If it doesn’t air in 2024, there’s still a decent chance the Hawks will get the pick in 2025 (protected top 12) or 2026 (protected top 10). Actually, that might be the preferred scenario for them, since the first unprotected pick they traded to the Spurs is for 2025, and San Antonio has trading rights in 2026.
The West is packed, so a postseason spot is certainly not a given, but the Kings have some interesting pieces, most of whom are young. There are realistic scenarios where they improve over time and go directly to the entry tournament or playoffs. Murray could be the wild card, because if he’s as NBA-ready as he seems, he could be a game changer.
Overall, the Huerter trade was an understandable deal for both sides. The Kings got a decent young starter who is under contract for four more years and addresses some of the weaknesses on the roster, and they protected the first-rounder they traded so that hopefully he doesn’t come back to bite them.
The Hawks made long-term money and dodged the tax, landed a low-buy candidate in Holiday, a veteran presence in Harkless and clawed back some draft capital after giving up a substantial amount for Murray.