UPDATE: Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that the Hawks are now in “serious discussions” on a deal for Capela, with additional details on what Atlanta would be sending elsewhere.
Sources: Minnesota, Atlanta, Houston are in serious discussions on a deal that would send Robert Covington to Rockets and Clint Capela to the Hawks. Evan Turner and draft compensation involved in current talks to Timberwolves. Potential fourth team too.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2020
For several days, the Atlanta Hawks have been linked to a potential pursuit of Clint Capela, with multiple outlets shedding light on the team’s continued search for a starting-caliber center. On Tuesday afternoon, additional details surfaced from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, with the NBA’s leading news-breaker highlighting the potential for a four-way trade involving the Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors.
While the national headline of the reporting centered on Minnesota’s yearning for D’Angelo Russell, the Hawks are still reportedly focused on Capela.
The Timberwolves, Rockets and Hawks possess the assets to fulfill some of each team’s goals: forward Robert Covington to Houston, center Clint Capela to the Hawks and potentially two first-round picks and an expiring contract to Minnesota, league sources said.
With what Wojnarowski describes as “multi-team discussions” happening, a lot of details have to be sorted through and, in his initial piece, there isn’t a full-fledged discussion of what Atlanta would give up in such a deal. Conventional wisdom would dictate that the 2020 first-round pick from Brooklyn would act as a centerpiece of this kind of deal on Atlanta’s side, though the Hawks would have to include a player (or players) for salary-matching purposes.
Evan Turner and his $18.6 million salary would be a logical inclusion as an expiring deal and, if that avenue isn’t palatable, the Hawks could include the combination of Alex Len ($4.1 million) and Jabari Parker ($6.5 million) to conjure enough salary to match for Capela. It is crucial to note that none of these players have been explicably reported in terms of what appear to be active discussions but, in the end, the Hawks will have to include substantial salary to make any kind of deal for Capela work.
Additional details could surface in the coming hours, with the 2020 trade deadline approaching at 3:00 pm ET on Thursday afternoon. With that said, Capela is a logical target for the Hawks on many levels — ranging from his on-court effectiveness to his long-term contract at a reasonable price — and it feels as if more buzz is likely to follow, even if a deal ultimately does not happen.
Stay tuned.