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ATL receives: G Brandon Knight, F Carmelo Anthony, 2019 First Round Pick
HOU receives: SG Kent Bazemore
The word is out that the Houston Rockets are interested in acquiring Kent Bazemore, and the Atlanta Hawks need to capitalize on his best season. Averaging a career-high 14.0 PPG, the 29-year-old’s stock has more than likely reached its ceiling. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Bazemore has a player option for 2019-20, which means that the return wouldn’t be astronomical, since he is very likely to opt-in to his $19.3 million option (The Athletic), cutting off the possibility of a rental. Houston could be interested in keeping him long term and getting a first round pick in return would almost certainly persuade Atlanta to pull the trigger -- Knight and Anthony just balance salaries.
The return in terms of players isn’t very appealing for the Hawks, but the first-rounder is intriguing considering that the rebuild has started; Atlanta may have a hard time finding a trade partner that would offer a better package considering Bazemore’s contract. Especially with injuries building up, Houston may offer something very similar to this, to maximize their title contention.