The Atlanta Hawks just swung the biggest domino of their season by moving Trae Young to the Washington Wizards, and the latest reports claim that it might not be the final move for the Hawks.
If you’re trying to build around the Jalen Johnson explosion (23.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists), the cleanest path is still the ugly one: lose games, stack odds, and come out of the summer with a real plan and real ammo.
Right now, they’re 18-21 and ninth in the East, basically living in that “too competitive to tank, not good enough to scare anyone” zone. And yeah, the noise is already loud: multiple reports have the Hawks sniffing around Anthony Davis, with the idea being a package built around Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard.
But Davis is the exact kind of swing that can blow up in your face. He’s at 20.3 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.7 blocks this season, and then he popped up with a left-hand injury in the Jazz game on Thursday night.
If you’re trying to stabilize a new era, betting your whole direction on the league’s most stressful injury dice-roll is how you end up back in the mud.
So instead of forcing an Anthony Davis chase, here are three better targets who actually match what this roster needs.
1. Lauri Markkanen
Potential Trade Offer: Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, Asa Newell, 2026 first-round pick (SAS swap rights), 2028 first-round pick (UTA swap rights)
If the Hawks want the cleanest “make the floor bigger and the scoring easier” move imaginable, it’s Lauri Markkanen. This is the version of the big forward every team tries to fake with random stretch fours, except he’s the real thing. He’s putting up 27.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists this season, and he’s doing it on 53.0% from the field.
The real sell is the geometry. Markkanen’s shooting isn’t just “nice spacing,” it’s gravity that actually changes how teams defend your main actions. If Jalen Johnson is your hub and your chaos creator, you want a second star who can score without dribbling the air out of the ball, and who can punish switches before the help even arrives.
Markkanen does that. Put him in slot actions, flares, pindowns, Spain, delay sets, whatever. He’s the guy who makes defenses pay for the simple decision of loading up early.
He takes a ton of threes, about 8.0 attempts per game, and he’s hitting 36.5% of them. That’s high-volume, high-respect shooting. It’s the kind that forces the big defender to live in no-man’s land, which is basically free money for a playmaking forward like Johnson and a downhill guard like Dyson Daniels.
Now, the Jazz side. Their record is 13-24, and they’re sitting 13th in the West. That’s the kind of season where you start asking the real questions. Do you want to be a “competitive bad” team forever, or do you want a hard reset with picks and optionality?
Markkanen is also making real superstar money, $46.4 million this season. If the Jazz decide their timeline doesn’t line up, this is the type of trade that turns one star into multiple shots at a new core. Picks, a rookie big, and short-term money that doesn’t lock you into a treadmill.
From the Hawks’ perspective, it’s also a “we stop pretending” move. Markkanen is expensive, but that’s what stars cost. And he’s not a weird fit next to Johnson; he’s a multiplier. You’re basically building an offense where Johnson can play point-forward, Markkanen can be the “touch scorer” who doesn’t need 15 isolations, and the backcourt can play simpler. Less hero ball, more pressure on the rim and from deep, more easy points.
There’s risk, sure. Markkanen has had stretches in his career where availability turns into a storyline, and you’re also committing to a roster that has to defend at a serious level to matter in the spring. But if you want a star who boosts spacing, boosts scoring, and doesn’t require the whole offense to be pick-and-rolls every time, this is the best archetype on the menu.
2. Pascal Siakam
Potential Trade Offer: Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, Zaccharie Risacher, 2030 first-round pick, 2032 first-round pick
This is the “we’re serious about winning ugly playoff games” option. Pascal Siakam is the kind of star who makes your team harder to play against, because he doesn’t need things to be perfect to cook. He’ll sprint you in transition, he’ll bully mismatches, he’ll live in that elbows-and-post area where defenses can’t just switch everything and sleep.
He’s also having a monster season: 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, on 48.4% from the field, and he’s hitting 37.0% from three. That last part matters, because the old knock on Siakam was always “cool, but can you play him next to another forward and not choke your spacing?” This year, the answer is yes.
The Hawks fit is nasty. Siakam next to Jalen Johnson basically means you’re throwing two big playmaking athletes at teams for 48 minutes. You can run inverted pick-and-rolls, you can run elbow split actions with Siakam as the passer, you can let Johnson grab-and-go while Siakam trails into pick-and-pop or a quick DHO. And defensively, that frontcourt pairing gives you options. You can switch more, you can switch less, you can trap wings, you can rotate earlier, you can be more physical without instantly collapsing.
The other underrated piece is what Siakam does for your “bad possessions.” Every team has them. Late clock, broken play, someone has to get a bucket. Siakam is one of the best “fine, I’ll just score anyway” forwards in the league because his footwork and strength travel. That matters if you’re building a roster that might not have a clean No. 1 scorer every night.
Why would the Pacers even consider it? Look at the standings. They’re 7-31 and 15th in the East. Even without Tyrese Haliburton, this might be their best shot at a blockbuster return. And Siakam is also on a massive number, $45.6 million this season. If a team is that deep in the basement, cashing a star into picks and young talent becomes rational, even if it’s painful.
Now, this offer is obviously aggressive. Two far-out firsts plus a premium young piece is the type of package that makes a front office stop acting cute. It’s also the kind of trade that would instantly tell the league what the Hawks are. Not “maybe in a couple years,” but “we’re building a real top-end frontcourt and we’re coming.”
The biggest reason I like Siakam more than Davis for this specific situation is the stability. Siakam can miss games like anyone, but the vibe isn’t constant triage. With Davis, you’re always one awkward fall away from your entire plan becoming a press release. With Siakam, you’re building an identity.
3. Jaren Jackson Jr.
Potential Trade Offer: Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, 2026 first-round pick (SAS swap rights), 2030 first-round pick, 2032 first-round pick
This is the big one. The “we want to build a defense that actually terrifies people” swing.
Jaren Jackson Jr. is still one of the most valuable modern bigs because he’s basically two positions at once. He can protect the rim, he can switch enough to survive, and on offense he’s not a stationary screen-setter.
He’s at 18.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game this season, shooting 47.9% from the field. He also spaces the floor, 4.6 threes a game at 36.0%. That combo is exactly why he’s worth the chaos.
If the Hawks really are unsure about their long-term center situation from a contention standpoint, Jackson is the cleanest answer because he solves the hardest problems at the hardest position.
He lets you run lineups where you can be big without being slow, and aggressive without being reckless. More importantly, he covers mistakes. And you need someone who can erase possessions when guards get hunted.
The Jalen Johnson fit is also insanely fun. Johnson can be your point-forward creator, Jackson can be your backline menace. Offensively, you can play through both at the elbows. You can run elbow splits where Jackson becomes the quick decision-maker, DHO into a wing three, slip into a short roll, or just turn and shoot if the big sits back. That’s how you cut down on the “every possession is a pick-and-roll marathon” problem. It’s more flow, more reads, less predictability.
And defensively, this is where the Hawks can actually build something real. Imagine a core where Dyson Daniels pressures the ball, Nickeil Alexander-Walker fights over screens and bombs threes, Johnson flies around as the help monster, and Jackson is the final boss at the rim. That’s the blueprint. You don’t need to be perfect offensively if your defense can win you 10 ugly games a month.
The Grizzlies’ context is the tricky part. They’re 16-21 and 10th in the West right now, which is basically “play-in life” again. They are reportedly willing to move Ja Morant, per ESPN, so if that happens, then everything else can go down too.
And Jackson is on $35.0 million this season. If they decide they’re stuck, the temptation to reshape the roster with picks becomes real, especially if they think they can’t fully stabilize the core for the next window.
Would they want Porzingis and Kennard? Not as players, as money and flexibility. Would they want picks? Absolutely. That’s why the offer has to be heavy, and why you push those far-out firsts. That’s how you get a team to even pick up the phone on a player like this.
The risk with Jackson is foul trouble and the fact that you’re paying for a premium skillset. But that’s also the point. Defensive ceiling is a real thing. Stars who raise your defensive ceiling are rarer than stars who can score 25 on Tuesday. If the Hawks are trying to become a real playoff problem, Jackson is the one I’d sprint toward.
Final Thoughts
If I’m picking one, I’m taking Jaren Jackson Jr. because he gives the Hawks an identity they can actually hang their hat on, and he fits the Jalen Johnson era like a glove. Also, he’s the easiest one to imagine anchoring a top defense right away, and that’s how you become a real team fast.
And yeah, I’m taking all three of these guys over Davis for this specific moment. Davis is at $54.1 million this season and the injury risk just popped up again with the left-hand issue. Markkanen ($46.4 million) is the spacing star, Siakam ($45.6 million) is the stable two-way battering ram, and Jackson ($35.0 million) is the defense-tilting big who also shoots.
If the Hawks want the smart version of “go get a star,” this is it. Pick the archetype you want, pay the real price, and stop gambling your whole timeline on the most fragile outcome.
