I've been trying to push for a trade between these 3 teams for a while, and feedback on my last 3 iterations of this deal have been that they were all too extravagant and teams seemed too loose with their assets. That was a mistake on my part, mainly due to me misunderstanding the philosophies each of these teams would have if this trade finalized. So here I present a much more realistic passage for this trade to ensue that is reasonable from all sides.

Hawks Receive: Cody Martin, Nick Richards, and DaQuan Jeffries

Hornets Receive: Clint Capela, Jordan McLaughlin, Hawks 2025 Srp (via Min), Hawks and Kings 2026 Srps (Hawks' pick via Mem), Hawks 2028 Frp

Kings Receive: Seth Curry, Garrison Mathews

Let's start with the simplest side to explain all this madness for, the Kings

With Devin Carter now returning from injury, Jordan McLaughlin is receiving even less playing time than he already was. This guy was one of the best backup PG's in the league just a year ago for Minnesota, now he's being asked to step down as a third string PG role which doesn't even guarantee he'll be getting playing time when Carter and Fox are out either as Sacramento has Malik Monk and Keon Ellis as their next Primary Ball Handlers before JMac when Fox or Carter is out. He is still a quality Point Guard however, and if he isn't all that needed in Sac town, then there are other teams that'll take him, teams that need a ball handler to turn to when everyone else is gone. Insert Charlotte. The Hornets need a PG to turn to when their guards are out, which is quite often. The Kings, well they're not getting enough threes. They swap guards as Seth Curry is sent to Sacramento and JMac says hello to the Charlotte area. Is it ideal for both teams? Yes but perhaps not in the way they imagined, but this gets them both a little something they need at the moment on very team friendly salary swaps. It doesn't shake up the roster all that much and yet both teams get exactly what they need from the returning players.

But Seth for what he is, isn't all that impressive of a pick-up, so let's get to the Hawks side of this deal and why they give up one of the hottest shooters in the NBA in Garrison Mathews.

Clint Capela is beyond his years, let's just get that out of the way. In reality there's nothing different with Clint's play over the last 2 years, it's just that NBA teams have now realized he's not as valuable as they thought him to be. He's not useless but very weak on defense when taken out of 3-5 feet of the rim, same can be said when he's also taken out of 3-5 feet from the rim on the other side of the ball as he's not a good connector down the middle when it comes to rolling off a screen, has clearly regressed on his shot-blocking capabilities, and he's slow in transition offense, the very style that the Hawks love to play. I think it's fair to say that his playstyle, good and bad, the Hawks have taken it as far as they can. However, he's perhaps still the best rebounder in the league, the best man for alley-oop target practice and a fine enough body in the paint to flush out opponents attempts just by intimidation. Sounds good? Well then that at least means he still has value to teams still somewhat stuck in no man's land, which when attached with 2 seconds in very appealing drafts in 2025 and 2026 and a first in 2028, seems quite fair and just enough to get back a return of Cody Martin and Nick Richards, two players who have very much piqued the interest of many teams around the league, and when Charlotte evaluates each mock trade for them, this perhaps seems like the best one. Nick Richards immediately comes in and replaces Capela's role almost identically and really he'll fit in better too as he's far more capable of running up and down the court than Capela and seems more versatile in terms of usefulness in the half court, defense however, perhaps don't focus too much on that end then. Cody Martin is such a valuable piece on any team, perhaps the most plug and play role player in the league today, the Hornets have ran him at so many different circumstances and while he won't necessarily excel at everything, he does what he can to try to excel at it. Something he can play really well is the Primary Ball Handler role which he's found quite a knack for running in Charlotte. And defensively, man what a heart, an absolute tryhard on ball and a sneaky pest off ball. Alright all this sounds cool, but Garrison Mathews, get to his part. Okay okay I hear ya, why do the Hawks let him go? So they can sneakily slide DaQuan Jeffries into the roster shuffle. Why on earth? Because Garrison Mathews, although rare, can miss his shots on certain days, and when those days come you'll really see why he's in and out of the rotation. Flying off screens can only get you so far, when the shots don't fall, you gotta affect the game in other areas, and when Mathews is missing, you'll see he just doesn't do that. He's not a good defender even though he tries, he's a predictable on ball creator, he's weak when it comes to driving in the paint, he doesn't rebound well despite his hustle, he's a very alright role player who looks like he does so much more than what he really does. Luckily for the Hawks, he's looked just good enough to be in trade talks. Just a single second round pick may look harsh as his mere asking price, but it's quite a fair asking price. The Kings' bench needs a little spark and no one in the league is capable of being such a one dimensional microwave scorer like Garrison Mathews. The Hawks send him to the Kings and they slide a 2026 second round pick over to Charlotte in exchange for the Hornets including DaQuan Jeffries in their package to the Hawks, why go through all the effort for Jeffries? Well like Garrison, he's also a microwave scorer, but at a much higher capability. He can put the ball on the floor and create for himself and defensively his bigger size helps when dealing with one on one defense, he's also capable of flying off of screens like Garrison and has been hot from three like him too, though perhaps not at the same consistency throughout the years. This all sounds very nice for the Hawks, but then that poses one question.

Why should the Hornets agree?

I've yet to talk about the draft picks and I will delay it once more just cause I feel like I need to say the players they get back, while perhaps not exactly what they had in mind, are actually what they need. Clint Capela is not that far from what Nick Richards brought Charlotte on offense and in terms of rebounding he'll be invaluable to this team on the glass and his defensive side will be a breath of fresh air during the days Mark Williams won't be on the floor, which like I said was often, so this swap is actually quite valuable in those regards. And JMac will be a great value Point Guard for them for the simple salary swap of Seth Curry, especially on the days when their main Guards are out, which once again is quite often, so like I said, a necessary move in those regards. But the absolute finalizer for Charlotte in this deal has to be the picks they receive in return. The 2025 and 2026 drafts are said to be loaded with talent as deep as the 2nd round, even if they decide not to use those picks they will be absolutely huge in getting another deal done, and the 2028 first is a no brainer in terms of just how valuable and important it could turn out to be. So basically, in return for Cody Martin, Nick Richards, DaQuan Jeffries, and Seth Curry, the Hornets get back Clint Capela, Jordan McLaughlin and 3 second round picks (1 in 2025 and 2 in 2026) plus a 2028 First. In terms of returning value, it all feels like a fair deal.

So what do you guys think?