Blow Yang + Po Shen hid the pick-and-roll killer move! Eagles bet on the east at zero price change

Can the Atlanta Hawks take advantage of the Eastern Conference star injury wave to improve their position in the league? It looks like they are planning to try to do that. The Eagles may have a window to hit a good record in 2026, and they are trying to seize this opportunity without damaging the future. On Tuesday, they completed at least a perfect balance of the deal—sending Terence Mann, Georges Nion and the 22nd pick in this week’s NBA Draft to the Boston Celtics in exchange for center Christapus Porzingis. Mann and the 22nd overall pick will be sent to the Brooklyn Nets while Nian heads to Boston.

In addition, the Celtics will also give the Eagles the worst of its two second-round final picks in 2026 (probably the worst of Indiana, Boston or Miami, but the situation is complicated) to the Eagles, who send the Cleveland Cavaliers' 2031 second-round pick back to the Celtics. The deal won't be finalized until July 6 when cap space is available in Brooklyn and may end up involving other teams (more on that later). The Nets now have six draft picks in this year's top 36 picks and are expected to try to package some of them upward trades. The Hawks need a starting level center and they really get one. Tuesday's deal essentially traded two non-core rotation players and a first-round final pick for Porzingis - a big man who is vulnerable but has the All-Star level. He will immediately significantly improve the Hawks' frontcourt strength and provide important space support for the starting lineup that lacks shooting.

Porzingis is undoubtedly the best pick-and-roll outside partner in Trae Young's career, and he can also punish those defense replacement strategies that have frustrated Young in recent years; he is also an excellent pass-through point when Young and Jaylen Johnson are on the court at the same time.

Obviously, health is a problem: Porzingis has played more than 57 games in just one season in the past eight seasons. He played only 42 games last season and has been plagued by illness during the playoffs. However, his $30 million expiration contract is extremely easy for players of his class, and the Hawks can start discussing a contract extension with him in mid-July. The Hawks may also have him and Okonggu form a two-tower lineup at some point, which is feasible because Okonggu has the ability to switch defenses and Porzingis can shoot. Matching salary capital could cost the Hawks the draft assets just to send players away. It's puzzling when the Hawks traded their draft assets for Mann's contract extension in 2025; and it's even more confusing when Atlanta tries to incorporate him into the system. Nion's expiration contract is relatively reasonable, but the Hawks lack enough frontcourt defenders to protect him on the defensive end. Another positive factor in the

Porzingis trade is that he provides real basket protection ability on the defensive end, partnering with Okongu, who is 6 feet 10 inches (about 2.08 meters). Despite having an elite wing defender like Dyson Daniels, even if Porzingis plays only 60 games, it should improve that, especially given the Hawks had to use a lot of frontcourt players last season.

Another positive factor for Atlanta is that the deal costs nearly zero salary flexibility, which only increases its total salary by $5 million. The Hawks will likely re-sign Carris LeVere for a price slightly higher than the estimated $14.1 million non-tax middle class exception, but even so, they are about $14 million below the luxury tax line and about $22 million below the first hard salary cap.

This space is important because the Hawks still have a deal exception of up to $25.3 million from the Dejunta Murray trade; except for the Brooklyn Nets, they are the only team that has the potential to get a contract worth more than $14.1 million in the trade without giving out any matching salary. The exception will expire on July 7, but it may eventually be partially "recycled" and deferred by one year based on other trading operations that occur from now until then. It can also allow the Hawks to trade, for example, exchange Kobe Buffkin and Dom Barlow for a $20 million player.

From the big picture, the Atlanta Hawks' work has just begun this summer. The contract renewal with Trae Young, Dyson Daniels and Porzingis are all key decision points to be faced soon, and the lineup's bench end also needs to be strengthened.

Whatever happens next, this is a solid first step taken by Onsi Saleh’s management. Atlanta has a competitive starting lineup: Young Daniels Rissache Johnson Porzingis, and two high-quality substitutes Okongu and (probably) LeVer are behind them. The rest of the roster is still thin, but filling the gap at the end of the bench is much easier than finding an All-Star player for the core position.

(text/mango)