New Blockbuster Three-Team Trade Idea Sends Keon Ellis to Denver Nuggets, Hawks Get Julian Strawther

Although it's always difficult to predict exactly how the offseason will affect the upcoming NBA season, it seems clear that the Eastern Conference is going to be up for grabs. The Indiana Pacers won the conference last year in one of the most surprising championship runs in recent memory, but they are going to be without Tyrese Haliburton for the year. The Boston Celtics have always been a force in the Eastern Conference, but Jayson Tatum went down with an Achilles injury in the second round and will miss the upcoming season. The Bucks made a big move to add Myles Turner, but they had to cut Damian Lillard to do it. In short, the only three teams that seem to be locks for postseason returns are the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers. That leaves an opportunity for several teams to take advantage.

The Atlanta Hawks are certainly doing their best to seize that opportunity. After trading for Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis and drafting Georgia power forward Asa Newell, Atlanta reached a pair of huge free agent signings. The Hawks signed a marquee free agent in Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to a four-year, $62 million deal in a sign and trade that sent a 2027 2nd-round pick (via CLE) to the Wolves. Then, the Hawks signed free agent guard Luke Kennard to a one-year, $11 million deal. They also got an unprotected first-round pick from the New Orleans Pelicans in a draft-night trade. Given the massive injuries in the Eastern Conference next season, it seems that the Atlanta Hawks are going for it and making moves to put themselves in position to contend. One area they could still use some depth is at small forward or another ball-handler.

The Denver Nuggets are always in contention as long as they have Nikola Jokic at center and the team seems to be making aggressive moves in order to give arguably the best player in the world a chance at a second ring. They traded away longtime starter Michael Porter Jr for Cam Johnson, added a critical reserve from their 2023 championship squad in Bruce Brown and supplemented their second unit with backup center Jonas Valanciunas and shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. On paper, the Nuggets are a more talented and deeper roster than the one that took the eventual NBA champions to seven games. That's a terrifying proposition for the rest of the Western Conference. However, it's worth considering whether they should go all-in on the 2025-26 season and add another starter-caliber player that can alleviate some of their outside shooting concerns.

One team that might be able to grant them that player is the Sacramento Kings. Denver and Sacramento already made one notable deal this offseason by sending Valanciunas from the Kings to the Nuggets. However, there has been some discussion over whether young wing Keon Ellis would be on the move if Sacramento was to get the right offer. Ellis is up for a new extension and he's already 25, so it's unlikely he'll grow any further into being an All-Star contributor. However, he's very clearly one of the better defenders in the NBA, per BBall Index.

The Kings have one of the top Wing Stopper/Point of Attack defensive combos in the league in Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis

⬆️Better defending on the perimeter

➡️More defensive impact

-Data contains 24/25 non big seasons pic.twitter.com/Z4Y1ddu4tN
— BBall Index (@The_BBall_Index) July 12, 2025

Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee had this to say about the possiblity of Sacramento moving on from Ellis:

"The Kings would be reluctant to part with either Keegan Murray or Keon Ellis, who are both generating strong interest around the NBA"

Anderson clarified his remarks by saying this:

"To my knowledge, no one is completely off limits."

The Kings shouldn't be in the business of shipping out promising young players, but if they can get a player that brings some of Ellis' defense at a younger age, that might be an interesting idea for them to consider. They are set up to develop young talent while Denver is set up to win right now. Considering Jokic is fully in his prime and they were able to take OKC to seven games this summer, it wouldn't be very surprising if Denver represented the Western Conference in the 2025-26 Finals. Furthermore, they likely won't have to worry about facing either of the past two teams to win the East due to injuries. 2025-26 may be Denver's best opportunity to win the title for some time, especially given that the rise of Victor Wembanyama is also on the horizon and OKC's core is poised to get better with each successive season. The cost of acquiring Ellis would also be cheaper than Murray because Ellis is older and can't play PF like Murray.

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.

Atlanta Hawks Receive: Julian Strawther

Denver Nuggets Receive: Terence Davis, Keon Ellis, 2029 2nd round pick (via ATL)

Sacramento Kings Receive: Zeke Nnaji, Peyton Watson, 2031 1st-round pick swap (via DEN)

Why the Hawks would do this deal:Atlanta is quietly assembling a talented, young core of wing talent and Strawther would fit with that vision. At 6'7, he can easily fill in as SF depth and he showed signs of improvement in his sophomore season. After being a complete liability as a shooter in his rookie season, he became a respectable wing shooter at 34.9% on 4.1 attempts per game. He also shot 82.2% from the line albeit on limited FT volume and even had a massive performance in an elimination Game 6 for Denver, pouring in 15 points off the bench as a major contributor towards the Nuggets' second half run to force a Game 7.

Why the Hawks would not do this deal: Despite his size, Strawther is still a liability on defense and he's an easy target for any offense. Atlanta's perimeter defense should be massively improved this season with the addition of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, but there's no denying that the Hawks would like to avoid signing players who can't hold up on the perimeter. They already signed a questionable defender in Luke Kennard.

Why the Nuggets would do this deal: Christian Braun has turned into a solid starter for the Nuggets, but his defense leaves something to be desired. He isn't the scorer Braun is, but Ellis doesn't remove anything from Denver's offense - he shot an impressive 43.3% from deep on four attempts a game while playing 80 games. The difference lies in Ellis recording a STL% of 3.0% compared to Braun's 1.5%. He forces deflections at an incredible rate and having him as a reserve would be useful for a Nuggets team that is still trying to reinforce its perimeter defense. Swapping 2031 picks when Jokic is likely past his prime means very little for their current contention window and Peyton Watson's offense is still a massive work in progress. Davis is good injury depth and brings a veteran perspective to Denver's locker room.

Why the Nuggets would not do this deal: Watson is a really intriguing defender because of his shot-blocking and the possibility of him taking an offensive leap can't be entirely discounted just yet. Trading for Ellis would also limit their long-term flexibility. He's on a team option for 2025-26, but he'll want a new contract and there's a good chance Denver just loses him to the free agent market next season. They also don't have a ton of cap space to pay him - they are already tied up in extensions for Jokic, Gordon and Murray while also needing to plan for a Christian Braun extension.

Why the Kings would do this deal: In the 2031 season, Jokic will be 36 years old. It's highly unlikely Jamal Murray will still be on the team given his injury history, shaky regular season performance and expensive contract. Aaron Gordon will also be 35 and likely in a reduced role given his physical style of play. There's a good chance Sacramento could be swapping up for top-five picks in the draft by that point and they still have enough time to bottom out and rebuild before 2030. Their core of Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan clearly isn't enough to be competitive in the West. Sacramento has all of its draft picks for the foreseeable future and they should make the pivot into a true rebuild that really started once they traded De'Aaron Fox. Building around a young defense of Nique Clifford, Keegan Murray, Devin Carter and Peyton Watson would be a solid starting point for that rebuild. Watson is one of the best shot-blockers among forwards and he's a tough player to stop in transition.

Why the Kings would not do this deal: They aren't getting any true unprotected first-round picks with this deal and moving on from Ellis without receiving any additional draft compensation might be a non-starter for Sacramento. Nnaji's deal is also quietly one of the worst in the NBA and the Kings may not be inclined to take it on.

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