New Blockbuster Three-Team Trade Idea Sends Sabonis to Toronto, Quickley+ Poeltl To The Kings, Hawks Add Defender

The offseason is here for 28 teams in the NBA. The NBA finals have arrived and there are only two teams left alive with hopes of making it to the ultimate goal of winning a championship. Heading into this offseason, the Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors are all searching for the next steps to take as a franchise, which is different for all three.

Atlanta is going to be a team worth watching. Most will point to a potential Trae Young trade, but that does not appear likely (for now) and Atlanta may move forward with this core of Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu. If the Hawks decide to do that, they need to improve their bench in a big way this offseason. Due to the NBA's CBA and apron rules, you are going to be seeing a lot more three-team trades between teams so salaries can move around. Atlanta could try to attach themselves to a big deal and add some pieces to their bench if they opt to move forward with this starting five. The Hawks need interior defense, frontcourt depth, shooting, and maybe a backup lead guard/ball handler. This is not a great free agent class to be filling those needs, so could the Hawks look to the trade market? NBA insider Marc Stein has already reported that Atlanta could look to be facilitators this summer in the trade market due to their financial flexibility, depending on if the team brings back any of Caris LeVert, Clint Capela, or Larry Nance.

Sacramento's lottery misfortune was of great benefit to the Hawks. Sacramento owed their first-round pick to Atlanta if it fell out of the top 12 and it ended up being the 13th pick. The Kings are without a first-round pick at a time when the franchise does not have a definitive direction. They have Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Keegan Murray, but is that even worthy of a play-in spot in the Western Conference, which is only getting stronger? There have been rumblings of a potential Sabonis trade, but it feels like that would make the Kings worse, something they may not have the appetite for, especially after being the NBA's most irrelevant franchise for nearly 20 years. Could they take a swing for a high-level player to add to their team or could they really opt to move Sabonis and retool their roster?

Toronto is always an interesting team to watch and there are already rumblings of them trying to chase a star player, with most pointing to Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo potentially being the target. If Antetokounmpo does not want to leave though, what will the Raptors do? Stand pat or go after another star to put around their interesting collection of wing players?

So how about a trade where each of these teams tries to fill a need?

It should be noted that this is just a speculative and fun exercise to see what kind of moves can be made, not what I think the Hawks or any other teams should do or will do. That is all.

Hawks Receive: Ochai Agbaji

Raptors Receive: Domantas Sabonis, Kobe Bufkin, and a 2027 2nd round pick (from ATL, via CLE)

Kings Receive: Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl, Ja'Kobe Walter, and a 2027 top-five protected 1st round pick (via TOR)

Why the Hawks do this trade: Agbaji surged last season, turning into a solid player on offense. He has always been a solid defender, going back to his days on Utah, but his offense was atrocious. Last season, he shot 49.8% from the field and 39.9% from three on four attempts per game. He would be a valuable wing defender to use off the bench and comes at a low cost

Why the Hawks don't do this trade: What if Agbaji's shooting season was just a mirage? Do the Hawks want to give up on a young player like Bufkin already for a move that might not improve you a lot?

Why the Raptors do this trade: They fix their long-term center problem and acquire a star player while also moving off of Immanuel Quickley's contract, which has not aged well. A lineup of Sabonis, Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and RJ Barrett is very interesting in the Eastern Conference if they can stay healthy. They could opt to use the No. 9 pick on a point guard in the upcoming draft to solve that issue or look for another trade.

Why the Raptors don't do this trade: The Raptors are probably a play-in team with this roster, but are they anything more? Do they want to make a move that does not put them near the top of the conference? They would have pretty big holes at point guard and backup center, but they could solve those.

Why the Kings do this trade: This might be the best kind of return that they can get for Sabonis. They get a young point guard, which is a big need for them, they can see what they have in Walter, and Poeltl is a good center who can form a solid duo with Jonas Valanciunas. A starting five of Quickley, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray, and Poeltl is pretty solid and a bench of Valanciunas, Keon Ellis, Devin Carter, Walter, and Malik Monk is also pretty good. The Kings have a good collection of draft assets and they add to it here.

Why the King's don't do this trade: Like the Raptors, how much better is this team after this trade? They fill some needs and collect a potentially good asset, but this still feels like a play-in team at best. Maybe that is good enough for the Kings right now and they try and move either LaVine's contract or DeRozan's contract near the deadline, but this does not feel like a sure winner of a trade if you are the Kings. Quickley's contract is expensive and he spent some of last year injured.

It should be noted that this is just a speculative and fun exercise to see what kind of moves can be made, not what I think the Hawks or any other teams should do or will do. That is all.

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