Jimmy Butler and Paul George remained with their respective teams through Thursday’s trade deadline, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on the part of the rest of the Eastern Conference.
ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that the Atlanta Hawks made “aggressive draft pick-centric trade offers” for both Butler and George.
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
The Hawks had their own first-rounder this year (likely to fall in the high-20s range) as well as first-rounders from Minnesota in 2018 (part of the Adreian Payne deal) and Cleveland in 2019 (part of the Kyle Korver trade) to offer. But neither the Pacers nor the Bulls appeared to be entirely serious about the idea of moving their respective star forwards at the deadline.
Still, the Hawks are at a good middle ground in terms of being able to compete for the playoffs as well as having a number of valuable trade assets at their disposal. Perhaps that’s an indication they’ll return to the mix for George and/or Butler further down the line.
