Hawks 2026 NBA trade deadline rating after 5 deals

The Atlanta Hawks were one of the busiest teams before the trade deadline. This season there was an interesting change in which player the team belonged to and in the end, Trae YoungA knee injury at the beginning of the season paved the way for Jaylen Johnson to take over in Atlanta — which ultimately led to Young’s departure.

With Johnson blossoming into one of the best playmaking forwards in the NBA, The Hawks turned to acquiring many valuable players who can provide spacing for the new 24-year-old wing. They made a total of five trades, including Young’s move to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, and these moves indicate that Atlanta believes in the potential of its young core to make waves in the East for years to come.

On that note, here are the individual grades for each trade the Hawks made, which would then be the overall grade for their busy trade deadline.

The Hawks end the Tree Young era with a whimper

Hawks take over: CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert

Wizards acquire: Trae Young

The Hawks’ inability to land a first-round pick or any of the Wizards’ young prospects for their best player in seven or more years speaks to how the market perceives smaller guards like Young. Young also has well-documented defensive shortcomings, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build a team around someone with his flaws, especially when earns the same amount money as it is ($46.4 million this season, player option for nearly $49 million next).

Plain and simple, the Hawks weren’t going to pay Young what was necessary to keep him on the team for the long haul. With the doubts they had about his viability as their franchise star, it was only right for Atlanta to try to sell the star guard.

However, there is an argument that The Hawks waited too long to trade Young. He was so close to free agency (barring the unlikely outcome that he would pick up his player option for next season) that other interested teams couldn’t land more quality assets for the four-time All-Star.

The Hawks could only get McCollum and Kispert, and as helpful as those players have been, it’s hard not to feel like Atlanta sold short on a perennial 20-point, 10-point guard.

The good news is that this trade gives the Hawks some wiggle room for the next few years, as McCollum’s contract expires at the end of the season. Kispert is a plug-and-play scorer who should now have an established role with the team following the Atlantic’s second trade deal.

Grade: B-

Atlanta ends Jonathan Cumminga era in Golden State

Hawks take over: Jonathan Cumminga, Buddy Hield

Warriors acquire: Kristaps Porzingis

Acquiring Porzingis was huge gamble on the Hawks end; The end of his tenure with the Boston Celtics instilled little confidence that he would be healthy moving forward as he dealt with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) — a condition in which going from lying down to standing up causes dizziness, an abnormally fast heart rate and fatigue.

The hawks knew this and brought him as the reward was huge; for all of Porzingis’ health issues, he’s still an incredible offensive player and rim protector when healthy. Unfortunately, Porzingis was rarely healthy for the Hawks, answering in just 17 games for Atlanta. This left them incredibly thin in the frontcourt, with Onieka Okongwu having to log heavy minutes on a nightly basis given how thin they were at the position.

The bright side was that Porzingis’ contract was up, so if the Hawks decided to move on, they could very easily do so. However, they decided to trade him to the Warriors for Cummings and Hield — adding more depth to a team currently in limbo of sorts.

Kuminga is one of the most enigmatic players in the NBA; he’s only 23 and can put points on the board in droves. But he didn’t fit into Golden State’s system, as Steve Kerr relied on ball-and-man movement around Stephen Curry to make easy buckets. Kuminga, on the other hand, needed the ball in his hands and was a sufficient shot creator on his own.

Can he turned his career around in Atlanta? He’ll play behind Johnson, so Cummings has to settle for being a microwave scoring option alongside McCollum for the Hawks. Considering how the Hawks handed the keys to Johnson, Cummings is unlikely to break out with his new team, as his attitude next to the team’s best player is tenuous at best.

Hield comes in as a scorer with one year left on his contract, so he’s another trade for the Hawks coming into the offseason in their never-ending quest to upgrade the roster.

Considering how Porzingis hasn’t often suited the Hawks, trading him in another gamble, this time to Cumin’s potential and perhaps effect a change of scenery on it, might be worth it. And if all else fails, the Hawks can always decline his team option for next season to free up even more cap space.

Grade: B+

The Hawks need an address center with a trade for Jock Landale

Hawks acquire: Jock Landale

Jazz Acquisition: Money

For a team in dire need of additional center depth, getting a solid backup option in Landale without giving up any assets other than cash can be interpreted as nothing short of a huge win for the Hawks.

Landale has been more than solid this season during his tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 11.3 points and 6.5 boards while holding down the fort amid Zach Eddy’s absence. He provides some toughness in the paint and can occasionally space the floor, shooting 39.6 percent from three per game.

Regardless, Landale will be a free agent at the end of the season, so it’s understandable that the Hawks got him for a bag of chips. The Jazz will certainly need a cash infusion as they suffer a slew of losses to end the season to try to keep their 2026 first-round pick.

Grade: A+

The Hawks trade two snipers in two separate trades

Trade one

Hawks acquire: Gabe Vincent, 2032 second-round pick

Lakers pick up: Luke Kennard

Your business

Hawks acquire: Duop Reath (later waived), 2027 and 2030 second-round picks.

Blazers take over: Whit Krejci

The Hawks acquired Kispert and Hield in separate trades, which meant Atlanta had more sharpshooting specialists on the wings than they needed. This makes their decision to trade Kennard and Krejci to the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers much more understandable.

When news of Krejci’s move to Portland broke, many Hawks fans found the move puzzling as Krejci developed into a dangerous threat from beyond the arc. At the time of his move, he was shooting more than 42 percent from deep with Atlanta and had two years left on his contract at such good price ($5.6 million total in 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons).

Landing two second-rounders, however, can now be considered a win now that the Hawks have been able to acquire similar players to help cover his departure.

Meanwhile, getting a Second round pick for Kennard in 2032who will be a free agent, is an understandable move for Atlanta, as they now have Hield and Kispert filling his role as a high-level scorer.

It will hurt the Hawks to lose some of Kennard’s playmaking. Krejci’s contract was too valuable for the Hawks to keep him instead. But these aren’t huge losses for Atlanta in the context of all the moves they made before the trade deadline.

Grade: B-

Hawks overall trade deadline grade: B