Sixers Trade Suggestion Takes Advantage of Potential Hawks Rebuild

This year, the Atlanta Hawks were the lucky winners of the 2024 NBA Draft lottery. Despite nearly winning a spot in the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Eastern Conference rivals landed the top pick in the draft despite having slim odds.

As a result of winning the top pick, the Hawks are suddenly viewed as candidates to enter a rebuild, becoming sellers ahead of the 2024-2025 NBA season.

With the offseason’s two most major events approaching in the coming weeks, the Hawks could realistically move one, two, or even more of their major veteran pieces. At this point, the two most prominent players on the roster, Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, have been mentioned as possible trade chips.

If one of those dominos fall, it could be the first signal of a potential rebuild in Atlanta. And for a championship-hungry team like the Sixers, getting in contract with a selling organization as they re-tool could offer an opportunity to land an impact player for next season and potentially beyond.

Obviously, Young and Murray would be the biggest catches in Atlanta, but the Sixers could set their sights on a Hawks role player. In recent piece from Bleacher Report, it was suggested the Sixers should consider a potential move to land the veteran sharpshooter, Bogdan Bogdanovic.

What’s the Hypothetical Trade?

In a hypothetical trade between the Sixers and the Hawks, BR suggests Atlanta could land Philly’s 2024 first-round pick (No. 16), along with Milwaukee’s 2027 second-round pick. In exchange, the Sixers land Bogdanovic.

“This exact construction should be a no-brainer for the Sixers (cap space-pending). Bogdanović is a career 38.4 percent shooter from distance on over eight attempts per 36 minutes and brings more on-ball scoring pizzazz than Buddy Hield and more playmaking than Kelly Oubre Jr.”

Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic could be a trade option for the Philadelphia 76ers. — Dec 8, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (13) shoots against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports | Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Although Bogdanovic wasn’t a popular target for Philadelphia in recent times, it was reported in the past the Sixers explored the market for the veteran sharpshooter.

According to Kyle Neubeck of PHLY, the Sixers made “exploratory calls” for Bogdanovic last season. At the time, the Hawks were reportedly asking for a “heavy premium.”

Over time, prices change — for better or for worse. The Hawks have spent the last few seasons trying to figure out how to build on their Eastern Conference Finals run in 2021. After multiple short-lived playoff runs and a failure to make it to the postseason this past year, it’s clear that Atlanta has some notable changes to make. That’s a good sign for those in the Bogdanovic market if Atlanta decides to open the doors for it.

You can never have enough reliable shooters in the NBA. Bogdanovic has knocked down 39 percent of his threes on eight attempts per game through his four seasons with the Hawks. Over that time, he produced 16 points per game, along with four rebounds and three assists.

While Bogdanovic typically holds an off-the-bench role, he has 193 starts under his belt. He also carries three playoff runs with him, averaging 31 minutes in 28 postseason games.

The Sixers should search for some sort of balance of building for a good future while also going all in for a title run as long as Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey are around. With the latter situation being far more important at this time, selling off picks for a player like Bogdanovic would be a no-brainer move.

It’s unclear where Atlanta’s head is at regarding Bogdanovic at this time, but if a rebuild is in play for the Hawks, Bogdanovic would almost certainly be available for a change of teams.