NBA Trade Rumors: 3 Players the Atlanta Hawks should target

The Atlanta Hawks are suffering a difficult season for a second consecutive year. The Hawks have won just eight times this season, and they currently have one of the worst records in the entire NBA. The team's struggles follow on from the 17/18 season, where Atlanta's decade-long playoff streak ended, as the team slumped to a dismal 24-58 record.

The team has no chance of making the 2019 offseason and the Hawks are in clear need of major changes to the roster. Despite this, the Hawks are constrained by a number of bad contracts on the team that could affect their ability to recruit new players.

Kent Bazemore will earn close to $18 million dollars for another two years, while the Hawks are also paying both Jeremy Lin and Miles Plumlee over $10 million for the current season.

Nevertheless, the Hawks need to do something in the trade window as they are currently facing at years of irrelevance. So here are three players from around the NBA that would be exciting editions to the Hawks team

#3 Frank Ntilikina

The New York Knicks management regard Frank Ntilikina highly, although the team may soon be willing to trade away some of the young members of their roster. This is due to the fact that the franchise is gearing up to make a major move in the 2019 postseason.

The Knicks are known to be targeting Golden State Warrior superstar Kevin Durant, and the team may be willing to trade away some members of the roster, due to their 9-25 start to the season.

While Ntilikina is only averaging 6.6 points and 2.6 assists-per-game, his performances have been impressive, and at just 20 years of age, he still has plenty of time to develop. Giving up a player such as Justin Anderson could get a deal done, and Ntilikina could eventually become an important part of the Hawks rebuilding project.

#2 Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot

Golden State Warriors v Philadelphia 76ers

The Atlanta Hawks were last summer part of the trade that took Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder acquired guard Dennis Schröder from the Hawks and forward Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot from the Philadelphia 76ers in return for Carmelo Anthony and a protected 2022 first-round pick. In retrospect, the Frenchman would have been a better fit for the Hawks, than the high-flying Thunder.

Luwawu-Cabarrot averaged over 15 minutes per-game in Philadelphia last season, and before the trade, he was starting to develop into a reliable rotation player.

Despite this, the Thunder have not included the 23-year-old in their selection so far this season, and the forward has played less than 10 minutes in the Thunders last eleven matches.

Sam Presti and the Thunder will look to move the small forward before the trade deadline, and Luwawu-Cabarrot could be a useful addition to the Hawks bench.

#1 Nikola Vucevic

The Atlanta Hawks have been continually looking for draft picks in the last 18 months, although it remains to be seen if this strategy will be a success. The Hawks held four of the first 34 picks going into the 2018 NBA draft, although the team came away feeling disappointed, and none of their current youngsters looks good enough to lead the franchise.

Despite this, the Hawks have a number of talented youngsters that could be complimentary pieces on a team, and the addition of an All-Star would allow the Hawks to contend again. Nikola Vucevic is a player who could be available by the trade deadline and the 28-year-old could potentially be a potential game changer for the struggling franchise.

The Montenegrin has been one of the East's best players this season, and his current deal will expire at the end of the season. Ultimately the Hawks' future would look a lot more promising if the team could lure the dominant centre in the next few months.