Taurean Prince Trade Brightens the Atlanta Hawks Future
The Atlanta Hawks made the first trade of the NBA offseason, sending starting small forward Taurean Prince to the Brooklyn Nets. We grade the deal and examine what it means for the Hawks basketball club moving forward.
The Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets set social media on fire, when word came down that the two teams had agreed to a trade. The Atlanta Hawks sent small forward Taurean Prince and a 2021 second round pick to the Brooklyn Nets, in exchange for shooting guard Allen Crabbe, pick 17 in the 2019 NBA Draft and a 2020 lottery protected first round pick. The Hawks now posses three picks in the top 20 of this year’s draft, also holding picks number eight and ten. The trade can not be officially announced until June 6 when the new league year starts, due to salary cap restrictions. ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski dropped the “Woj bomb” breaking news of the trade first on Twitter:
Brooklyn is trading Allen Crabbe and No. 17 pick in 2019 NBA Draft and protected first in 2020 to Atlanta for Taurean Prince and 2021 second-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 6, 2019
This trade is a very interesting move as Atlanta general manager Travis Schlenk decided to part ways with small forward Taurean Prince. Prince was eligible for a contract extension this offseason and is set to be a restricted free agent at the season’s end. That means Atlanta would have been faced with the choice of signing him to a new deal, or allowing Prince to seek an offer sheet with another club. Had the Hawks chose option two, they would have had the option to match the offer sheet, or lose Prince without compensation in return.