New Blockbuster Three-Team Trade Proposal Sends Kevin Durant to Dallas, Suns Reload Their Roster, Hawks Add Depth

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, New York Knicks, and Chicago Bulls 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.

Phoenix is in perhaps the bleakest situation in the entire NBA. They do not control their own draft picks for the rest of the decade, they are in the dreaded second apron and have little means to improve, and are stuck with the Bradley Beal contract, which has a no-trade clause. It seems like the only way that the Suns can improve their team is if they decide to trade one or both Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, with Durant being the far more likely option. What kind of return would Durant get the Suns given his age and injury history? It is one of the more fascinating questions in the NBA.

Dallas is also going to be an interesting team to watch. They made the most shocking trade in NBA history when they sent Doncic to the Lakers and are in a win-now window, but that got complicated when Kyrie Irving went down with an ACL tear. How will the Mavericks try to improve their roster while knowing that Irving likely won't be available to play next season? They got a huge unexpected boost when they won the NBA Draft lottery and got the right to draft Cooper Flagg, but the guard spot is a huge question mark still for Dallas. Not only that, but after acquiring Davis and assuming they bring back Irving, is this team going to still be in win now mode? They could try to balance both timelines.

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: Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale

Suns Receive: Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, Caleb Martin, Dominick Barlow, a 2025 1st round pick (via ATL, No. 22 overall), and a 2029 1st round pick (from Dallas, via LAL)

Mavericks Receive: Kevin Durant and Georges Niang

Why the Hawks do this trade: They add two knockdown shooters to address one of their biggest problems from last season and it costs them Barlow and one of their first-round picks this year. Both Allen and O'Neale shot above 40% from three last season and would give the Hawks a big boost there. O'Neale is a solid defender and has plenty of familiarity with Quin Snyder from their days in Utah. This is about getting more knockdown shooters to put around Trae Young. They are still under the luxury tax after this deal. They also keep their lottery pick plus Kobe Bufkin.

Why the Hawks don't do this trade: None of these players are on expiring deals and in a year or two, they might age poorly. Perhaps Atlanta would rather have the extra first-round pick plus the second-rounders. None of the players they acquire are game-changers and can be targeted on defense.

Why the Suns do this trade: They get players they get put around Devin Booker to try and win now while also acquiring draft picks and young talent. They may not get an elite player back in the trade, but they can put these pieces around Booker to try and compete the best they can

Why the Suns don't do this trade: Even after this deal, are they going to be a playoff team? Thompson would be an awkward fit with Booker and Beal.

Why the Mavericks do this deal: They get a player who can give them a huge scoring boost next to Flagg, Davis, and Lively while Irving is out and it helps them win now. They keep their other pick and still have a decent bench after making this deal. They could play Davis at center and bring Lively off the bench in this kind of deal, that way they can have Durant, Davis, and Flagg share the floor together.

Why the Mavericks don't do this deal: It does not solve their biggest issue of not having a lead guard. Durant is 37 and has had injury problems in the past and that could be a bad combo with Anthony Davis. Would the Mavericks prefer to send this kind of stuff out in a trade for a guard rather than for Durant, even if Irving returns next season?

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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