According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks have agreed to a three-team trade that will see Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando and a 2023 second-round pick land with the Celtics, Delon Wright heading to the Hawks and Tristan Thompson being routed to the Kings.
It’s a move that looks like it will benefit all parties as Atlanta receives a solid backup guard in Wright who averages 10.2 points, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game last season while shooting .372 percent from 3-point range.
Although the Hawks selected talented point guard Sharife Cooper in the 2021 NBA Draft, having Wright onboard not only prevents Atlanta to work the rookie point guard in a rotation before he’s ready and being over-reliant on the elite Trae Young because they lack enough production from their backup point guard.
In return, the Hawks only had to surrender Dunn, who missed all but four games last season due to injury. At 27-years-old, the former fifth overall pick has not lived up to his billing out of Providence but a return to the New England area and playing for a competitive team that prides itself of defense (Dunn’s specialty) may see him providing valuable minutes for the re-tooling Celtics.
If nothing else, Dunn is great value as depth. The same could be said for Fernando, a skilled big man whose role was frequently diminished in Atlanta due to the arrivals of Clint Capela and the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Onyeka Okongwu.
As for the Kings, having a blue-collar worker on the court like Thompson will fit the mold of their offseason thus far after they selected Davion Mitchell and Neemias Queta in Thursday’s draft.
While it lessens the likelihood that shot-blocking big man Richaun Holmes is re-signed, another benefit of adding Thompson is the latter’s prowess at creating screen assists, which will be quite beneficial to Sacramento’s projected three-guard starting lineup.
Thompson, who would likely prefer playing on a bonafide playoff contender, could also eventually be re-routed by the Kings. Though it appeared that the big man had found a home in Boston, the Celtics at least appear to be all-in on Robert “Time Lord” Williams III, as well as recently acquired bigs Al Horford and Moses Brown.
