Evaluating Hawks-Thunder Trade Involving Maurice Harkless
Every trade made in the NBA matters to some extent and on Tuesday, the Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City Thunder came together to make a trade right to the start of training camp.
The Hawks traded veteran forward Maurice Harkless and a future second-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for former 2020 second-round pick Vit Krejci, as first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Harkless, 29, is preparing for his 11th NBA season and will now suit up for his seventh different team, fifth in the last three seasons. The veteran forward has played for the Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings.
This offseason, Harkless was traded from the Kings to the Hawks in a deal that sent Kevin Huerter to Sacramento.
For his career, Maurice Harkless has averaged 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the floor and 32.0 percent from three-point range. Known to be a tough-minded defender, Harkless now joins a young, inexperienced Thunder franchise that is already over the 15-man maximum roster size entering training camp, making him a possible buyout candidate to monitor.
The Thunder also acquired a future second-round pick in this trade with the Hawks at the expense of Vit Krejci, adding onto what is already an impressive stockpile of draft picks general manager Sam Presti and this front-office has gathered throughout the years.
As for the Atlanta Hawks, Krejci comes over on a partially-guaranteed $1.56 million contract for the 2022-23 season, making him a player that will have to earn his spot on the team’s 15-man roster in training camp and throughout the preseason.
Playing in his first 30 games with Oklahoma City this past season, Krejci averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in about 23.0 minutes per game. He also shot 32.7 percent from three-point range and is a lengthy guard that still has room for growth.
Nothing about this trade really makes a huge impact for either the Hawks or Thunder, but the draft pick going to Oklahoma City and the salary movements are definitely talking points.
From a financial perspective, this deal puts the Hawks $1.28 million below the tax line, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
For the Thunder, they are taking on Harkless’ $4.5 million contract for this upcoming season, but they are doing so with the $4.9 million Disabled Player Exception the league granted them when Chet Holmgren suffered a season-ending foot injury this offseason.
As a result of taking on a bigger contract, one they are absorbing with no financial ramifications, the Thunder are rewarded with a draft pick from the Hawks and for Atlanta, they get to take a swing on a young guard with some untapped potential.
It may not be a groundbreaking trade, but both Atlanta and Oklahoma City are doing some housekeeping right ahead of the start of the 2022-23 NBA season, which is set to begin on October 18 with two marquee matchups.
