Atlanta Hawks: Trading Taurean Prince Would Be a Big Mistake
What the Atlanta Hawks Should Do
Contract wise Taurean Prince is making just over 2.5.million, in the third year of his rookie contact. He is scheduled to make a little north of 3.4 million next season. That’s very affordable for an NBA starting caliber player. Furthermore he will be under team control after that as a restricted free agent, giving the Atlanta Hawks the ability to match any offer from another team.
As affordable as Taurean Prince’s contract is, there are very little reason to move him. Combine that with the fact that very few players have the ability to score 38 points multiple times in an NBA game, moving Prince makes even less sense.
On a team that’s based on shooting, it’s not smart to trade one of the top catch and shoot players on the team. The the Atlanta Hawks should make as many shooters as possible available for Trae Young to find. This will also space the floor for emerging star power forward John Collins.
This amazing clip from Too Much Hoops, shows how dynamic the Trae Young to Taurean Prince connection can be:
A con to most Taurean Prince trade scenarios is that the teams that will likely show the most interest in making a deal with Atlanta are playoff contenders. I envision most offers for Prince including a young player drafted in the mid to late lottery and a first round draft pick far lower than number 12 where Prince was selected at.
The Hawks would be basically trading Prince for pennies on the dollar, in most feasible trade scenarios with contending teams.
I am aware that Taurean Prince is not a Schlenk draft pick. He was selected when former head coach Mike Budenholzer and prior general manager Wes Wilcox, made personal decisions for the club. Yet that’s not a good enough reason to move on from a young talent that at age 24, fits the age of the other core players.
Schlenk and coach Lloyd Peirce should trade away some veterans from a group that includes Kent Bazemore, Dewayne Dedmon and Jeremy Lin.
The Atlanta Hawks should stick with a core starting four of Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, John Collins and Taurean Prince, along with a Alex Len or Omari Spellman at center for the foreseeable future. At least until the group has had a large enough sample size together to be properly evaluated.
Certainly the NBA is a business and if a blockbuster trade should materialize for Atlanta, many Hawks players including Taurean Prince, should be a part of trade package discussions.
Short of the Hawks aggressively pursuing a trade for a star big man such as Kentucky big men Anthony Davis or Karl Anthony-Towns or a comparable young star, trading Taurean Prince Would be a mistake and the wrong move for the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club.
Related Story. Why Now is the Time for the Atlanta Hawks to Trade Kent Bazemore.. light
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