Jeff Teague needed to go. He’s not a bad player – he’s often an excellent one – but he manned the one position at which the Hawks had a surplus. Dennis Schroder is younger, cheaper and potentially better. Teague is due to become a free agent next summer. The easiest way to shatter the Hawks’ latest Core Four was to shed Teague while they could get something in return.
They didn’t do it at the trade deadline in February. They did it Wednesday, which proved a more propitious moment. Via the three-way transaction, they’re expected to gain the 12th overall pick in Thursday’s NBA draft. That would give them two selections in Round 1 – they also hold the 21st pick – and two more in Round 2. Here’s guessing their dealing has only begun.
Don’t misunderstand. This is not the onset of a Braves-like teardown. The Hawks aren’t about to give up on the remainder of that core. They hope/expect to re-sign Al Horford as a free agent. They believe Schroder can be a legitimate starter if not a full-blown star. This is Step 1 in an attempt to retool, which isn’t the same as all-out rebuilding.
The Hawks will surely try to package their Round 1 picks and nose into the draft’s top 10. They’d love a shot at Buddy Hield, the Oklahoma senior, or Jamal Murray, the latest Kentucky one-and-done. Both are shooters of rare promise. Both could start immediately at off-guard and make Kyle Korver what, at age 35, he needs to be – a sub. Both could fit into Mike Budenholzer’s pace-and-space in a way neither Nerlens Noel nor Jahlil Okafor would have.
That had been the talk for a month: That the Philadelphia 76ers, who lead the world in young big men and are about to draft another in Ben Simmons, were trying to pry Teague from the Hawks. The rumor’s first manifestation held that Noel, who’s a defender but not a scorer or a passer, was the Sixer apt to move; then it became Okafor, a low-post scorer but not a floor-spacer. Turns out it was neither. That’s probably for the best.
The Hawks need to get younger and more talented – that’s beyond dispute. But their system requires specific skills. You have to be able to pass and shoot, and it helps if you can guard somebody. (Tim Hardaway Jr. spent two months on the D-League shuttle before he got the latter message.) You mightn’t agree with that approach. You might want to see high-bounding wings in the mold of Dominique Wilkins, but Budenholzer’s way – the Spurs’ way – isn’t to feed the man but to share the ball. And what Budenholzer says goes.
Back to Teague: There were moments when he’d appear as good as any point guard in the league, but only moments. He could drift in and out of games, which isn’t what you want from the guy with the ball in his hands. Schroder has a higher motor. (Sometimes too high, but that’s another matter.)
There was something about Teague that never quite warmed to his surroundings. Mike Woodson scarcely played him as a rookie. Larry Drew only made him a starter in Round 2 of the 2011 playoffs because Kirk Hinrich had been hurt. That was Teague’s coming-out party. He became a pretty good point guard and then, in the breakthrough season of 2014-15, an All-Star. Then he regressed.
He didn’t appear to like sharing minutes with Schroder. He kept doing strange things on social media. His Instagram post that he’d played last season with a torn patellar tendon (since deleted) was essentially his kiss-off to the Hawks. Sure enough, he’s a Hawk no longer.
As for the team he leaves: They Hawks have given themselves a chance to make something transforming of a draft that, until Wednesday, didn’t appear all that promising. For the first time since Danny Ferry took his leave of absence, this team has made a personnel move we all should applaud.
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