The Hawk’s 2 exceptional backcourt talents that are held there only to miss the playoffs ought to be moved in order to start a rebuild. The rebuild is almost a full “the process” style rebuild, but with an arguably better starting base. The Hawks take on projects with potential, gross overlays, and guys that are sort of both, in addition to draft picks including many first rounders from the Thunder’s stockpile. With Capela, OO, Hunter, Jalen Johnson, and Saqiq Bey remaining on the team with their new additions and picks, assets can continue to be either flipped or kept moving forward. The Hawks can now build around the 1st pick they see t with this years’ draft to revitalize the franchise in the coming decade. Sarr or Risacher, their future draftees from both their spots and the Thunder’s, the roster now, and guys they have traded make a multi-pronged youth movement. And given they’ll be ass for a while, ATL will be a good sandbox/ lab for the new pro hoopers to try shit.

The Orlando Magic entered playoff contention in a step that I would say is somewhat ahead of schedule for them. In a weaker East, if Paulo gets a little bit of an edge from talent that is both stronger and more prepared to compete, he will be able to experience deeper runs early- a crucial part of his evolution into the monster we think he can become. The Magic, ofc, get star power, consistent shooting, and defense with Ice Trae Boggie and Dort. But, even more importantly, they get wiser backcourt rotations that won’t hinder the team nearly as much as was displayed in their matchup against the Cavs. Furthermore, Trae Young is thought to be the perfect lob thrower and guide to play with a generational big like this. Although the Wagners and others will be missed as part of the team’s identity, overall I believe this team gets far better and more balanced, much more than the simulation indicates.

The Thunder can take their momentum to transition from a surprisingly great, young, 2 timeline team to an NBA finals winner right now. The fanbase should be tired of coming up consistently just shy with generational talent, like KD, Russ, and PG13. Their proud MVP candidate, Shai, leads a great team, but burden of leading it is in fact heavy. The team could use more players capable of simaltaneously exploding for buckets and game managing as Shai does on a nightly basis. The addition of Dejounte Murray and Cole Anthony will not only alleviate his floor general responsibility, but make him undouble-able, and thus unguardable in the back court. As of now, the only other starter (not saying Anthony will start) on OKC’s roster I feel comfortable inbounding the ball to with a press coming is young JDub at the 4, and that should be concerning. The supporting cast did shoot the lights out of the three ball last year to electrify the offense, but honestly, from the likes of Giddey, Chet, and Dort, I wouldn’t expect that figure to hold up incredibly well. The high level supporters the thunder acquire are good at creating their own shot on different areas on the floor rather than relying on the ball to be moved to them waiting in the perimeter (and can still shoot sumn!) Presti should feel comfortable taking what somehow isn’t the greatest hit to his draft capital to ensure title runs for this core, which remains mostly intact. If they don’t strike while the iron is hit and buff this team up, they may regret it as they continually draft rookies to wait on their arrival amidst the toughest West we may have ever seen. Their time is now.

If GMs are skeptical of the amount of draft picks involved though, I wouldn’t be mad if you strongly need to add or subtract one. Some of the lower level player movement also matter little. But the main themes, and the way the money and players work for each team in this trade, I think is enticing for all 3. But y’all lmk down below if I’m tweakin