The LA Clippers and Atlanta Hawks could pull off the most surprising trade of the NBA season.
That is if the Hawks are willing to take a massive risk.
Atlanta is wide open to trading Trae Young, and teams like the Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Lakers are sure to be interested.
But what if the Hawks went in a radical direction and engaged the Clippers in talks about two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard?
LA might be ready to move on from Kawhi, and if they could get Young in return for doing so, they’d likely give such a move deep consideration.
Young and Cody Zeller to the Clippers for Leonard works financially; it’s just a matter of both teams being okay with the swap from a basketball standpoint.
Kawhi isn’t giving the Clippers anything right now, and there’s reason to believe he won’t anytime soon. With LA in the playoff race out west, the Clippers would love to acquire a guy like Trae to come in and take them to a new level of being possible surprise contenders.
And while the Hawks could definitely get a return for Trae that is far less risky, they’re unlikely to come upon an offer with a higher ceiling than getting Kawhi Leonard.
Atlanta has the luxury of being in a soft rebuild on their side here — they can sort of afford for a Kawhi trade to turn out badly (say, he never gets healthy), because they are building something new and exciting around Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels, anyway.
On the other hand, if Leonard does return to some semblance of form, suddenly the Hawks are a team no one in the Eastern Conference wants to draw in the playoffs.
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