In recent days, there’s understandably been nonstop talk over the prospect of Damian Lillard—and, to a lesser extent, James Harden—being traded.
Lillard is coming off arguably his best individual season, averaging 32.2 points per game on a sparkling 56.4% effective field-goal rate, the best mark of his career. Any contender who acquires him figures to be even more in the mix for an NBA title. And even Harden, if he was to land with the Clippers or stay with the Sixers, would at least be worthy of a pause. Those clubs could certainly win big with him if they catch lightning in a bottle and stay healthy in the playoffs.
Yet, for all the big-star hunting involving superstars that gets talked about this time of year, it sometimes is easy to overlook moves that are a step or two beneath that level. The Hawks made a couple of big ones last summer, for instance, not only making the deal with San Antonio for Dejounte Murray, but also unloading sharpshooter Kevin Huerter to Sacramento, a cost-saving move by Atlanta that helped the Kings end a historically long postseason drought of 17 years to reach the playoffs.
