The Hawks passed on the Anthony Davis chase before the deadline, and that call looks sharper by the day.
Atlanta had interest, but it ultimately backed away from a deal for a player whose age and injury history already raised red flags. Those concerns only get louder when you factor in his contract situation, because Davis is now eligible to sign an extension.
Washington made the move instead, but there’s already a cloud hanging over that partnership. The Wizards chose not to discuss an extension during the season, and ESPN’s prediction suggests that may not matter much anyway. Davis led all players with 10 points in ESPN’s projection of who will be next to request a trade.
Tim MacMahon framed the issue plainly:
If Washington isn't willing to pay Davis what he wants, why would he be satisfied to stick around and attempt to help the Wizards snap a six-year playoff drought?
That’s the heart of it. The Wizards are stuck in a much different place than Atlanta, and even the Hawks, fresh off a playoff berth, still aren’t in the contender tier.
That matters because Davis and his agent, Rich Paul, would likely push for a maximum extension worth $275 million over four years. If Atlanta had traded for him and then balked at that price, the whole situation could have turned fast.
Instead, the Hawks avoided walking into a negotiation they probably never wanted in the first place. It’s a relief for them not to be the team deciding whether to hand Davis the kind of deal he’s seeking now that he became eligible to sign a new one earlier this month.
A look at the numbers and the risk explains why. Davis can still change a game on both ends when he’s right, and he flashed that version with the Mavericks last season.
But it came in short bursts, and he played only 20 games. After he landed with the Wizards, he didn’t play at all.
Atlanta also would have made more sense as a Davis landing spot if it had been determined to keep Trae Young. But the Hawks weren’t willing to pay Young what he wanted, and he got that money from Washington instead. That part could still come back to bite them, but it’s separate from the Davis decision.
Once Atlanta moved on from Young, adding another star in Davis might have looked tempting. The Hawks didn’t bite, and they still made the playoffs anyway.
Now they can move forward without having to wonder whether Davis will push for a trade if Washington doesn’t give him what he wants. That possibility, which ESPN seems to think is very real, could end up defining his time with the Wizards.
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Hawks Face A Veteran Roster Crunch They Cant Avoid
Atlantas roster is already at 17 players, and the front office has a familiar summer problem to solve before training camp arrives in 2027: trim the group down to the 15-man limit without undercutting the depth it has built. It is the kind of decision that usually lands somewhere between basketball fit and financial practicality, and the Hawks are clearly spending time weighing both as they sort out the shape of the bench for the coming season.
Buddy Hield and Corey Kispert have emerged as the names to watch in that conversation, each for different reasons tied to role and contract value. Atlanta does not appear to have a simple answer here, which is why the roster crunch has become more than a bookkeeping exercise. The Hawks are still evaluating whether the cleanest path is to cut or move one of those veterans, and the next step will say plenty about how aggressively they want to manage the back end of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Fans Have A Real Reason To Watch New Orleans Closely
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Hawks Deadline Idea Would Address A Problem Fans Know Too Well
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Any such deal would come down to whether both sides see enough value in the exchange to pull the trigger, since Atlanta would be chasing a targeted upgrade rather than a full-scale overhaul. The appeal is clear for the Hawks: a chance to address a problem fans have watched drag on for too long, with the trade talk centered on fit, timing and whether this is the kind of under-the-radar addition that can actually make a difference. [Read more 🡒]