Jimmy Butler and Paul George became the center point of the trade deadline as rumors swirled about their uncertain futures. The Celtics seemed to be the main team searching for a deal for the two superstar players but it appears another team was secretly sending out offers to the Bulls and Pacers, the Atlanta Hawks. According to Marc Stein, the Hawks attempted to trade for both players but nothing was able to materialize.
The Atlanta Hawks made aggressive draft pick-centric trade offers for Paul George and Jimmy Butler today, league sources tell ESPN.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 23, 2017
This is an intriguing development because of how strange the Hawks have been, on and off the court. They traded away Kyle Korver with Paul Millsap trades flying around but then they went on a winning streak and became firmly planted in the playoff race. Since then they have been able to stay higher up in the standings but are still an up and down operation. This deal at least shows some sense of the front office’s opinion of the team. They were attempting to make a win now move and ultimately it did not work, alas it is still encouraging to see a potential direction.
