With a lot of rumours going round about the future's of Giannis, AD and Trae Young I thought it would be interesting to combine the three of them in a trade.
With this trade the Mavericks give themselves flexibility to either go into a full rebuild with Trae's contract expiring in 18 months or adding the playmaking maestro to their long term plans alongside Cooper Flagg. The storyline will be Trae returning to the team who originally drafted him, before being traded to Atlanta on draft night. Bobby Portis' good contract gives them a good allround NBA piece alongisde the two first rounders coming from Atlanta. All though they lose defensively with the loss of Davis, Young has typically been one of the more reliable players injury wise which cannot be said the same about AD.
The Hawks get a the superstar to pair with Jalen Johnson, without giving up a lot of roster depth. Porzingis and Okongwu's big man spacing offensively alongside the freight trains of Jalen Johnson and Giannis attacking the rim is a scary sight. Since the Young injury Dyson Daniels has turned into a reliable playmaker alongside Johnson, leading the Hawks to lean into the long defensive identity further and rely on the cumulative creative effort on the offensive end. Jalen Hardy's offensive spurts and cheap contract could be a valuable asset for Atlanta with NAW likely to move into the starting lineup permanently. The lose a bit of wing depth with Risacher heading to Milwaukee which may need to be addressed, however overall Atlanta significantly improves from this trade in the short term. The first round draft picks they give up are significant, however with this roster assembled it may be time to push your chips into the middle of the table and go all in.
The Bucks receive Anthony Davis back from losing the franchise cornerstone in Giannis, with a nod to building towards the future with Risacher coming in but also the draft picks picked up from Atlanta. The first draft pick this year could prove invaluable with the best of Milwaukee or New Orleans coming their way in a loaded draft class. They also get even longer, leaning in towards the way the league is trending whilst balancing the here and now with the future.