Why The Hawks Can't Trade for Klay Thompson

How great would it be to have a young, 6’7″, super star shooting guard that can make 11 three pointers in a game? How ideal would it be to plug into the open world of the Hawks offense? The fact that he can rain down that many in less than 48 minutes all while sharing the same floor with Steph Curry makes that feat even more impressive. Since I love catastrophe’s and destruction, allow me to quickly ruin any hopes that you may have of Atlanta wrestling him away from Golden State via trade.

When the Warriors signed former MVP, scoring champion Kevin Durant over the summer, there was a genuine concern. Overall, from the masses, many thought that there may not be enough ball’s inside gymnasium’s for all of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant to co exist in the same lineup. Thompson said during the off season that someone’s stats on their star studded team would really suffer. In the big picture, everybody was okay with that.

Durant has not missed a beat in regards to the one man scoring rampage that he has always been. In the Warriors first 10 games, his scoring average of 27.7 is down just a few ticks from the 28.2 he put up during his last season in Oklahoma City. It turns out that the “someone” Klay was referring to was everybody. He, Draymond Green and Curry have all seen their numbers scoring wise drop at least 3 points per game.

The Warriors got ran off their home floor on opening night by 30 points to the San Antonio Spurs. They even got the same treatment by the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite all of that, Golden State does still have a 8-2 record. Thompson’s name has begun to show up on the rumor mill lately, perhaps because he is hitting a career low .319 from deep. It is correct, that an NBA rumor carries absolutely zero weight. But sometimes on occasion, they can turn out to be valid.

In the Hawks case though, there isn’t any scenario or circumstance that has Thompson playing for Mike Budenholzer. First of all, they don’t have the sort of player’s that the Warrior’s could be looking for. The one valuable trade asset that Atlanta would potentially make available, Paul Millsap [because he can opt out of the last year of his deal this summer and leave as the Hawks would receive nothing in return], play’s the same position as Draymond Green. Obviously, Golden State is overly satisfied with him.

To even mention Millsap’s name in trade speculation’s is actually unfair considering how well he has played this season. Every indication points to the Hawks doing everything they can to retain Paul Millsap and his services. That is, when or if he does opt out. I could continue tossing more name’s out there but there is one main reason that Atlanta doesn’t make a deal.

They are 8-2 and within striking distance of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Everything is clicking, even though has-been expert analysts totally dismiss the Hawks. Sometimes, their analysis show they don’t know their ass from their elbows. Thankfully, their chances will be much better than they were the past two years. With Dwight Howard inside, things should turn around. Instead of relying on a center that was allergic to rebounds and physical play.