The 2024 NBA offseason is in full swing and one of the first big moves of the summer was the Hawks sending Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance and two first-round picks. The Hawks wanted to break up the backcourt of Murray and Young this summer and decided to trade Murray to New Orleans. Atlanta seems ready to rebuild the roster around Young and so far they have done so.

The big transfer target in the NBA right now is Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. Interestingly, Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer reported that Utah and Atlanta had been in talks about both guards before Murray's trade, as Utah was looking for players around Markkanen to convince Paul George to sign with them:

“The Jazz are actually welcoming offers for Markkanen, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Perhaps Utah will ultimately experience an offseason similar to Brooklyn, where the Nets once planned to add star talent alongside Mikal Bridges before deciding their best course of action was to rebuild – thanks to a massive transfer fee from New York. The Jazz, as previously reported by Yahoo Sports, considered a trade for Bridges, had talks with Atlanta about Dejounte Murray and Trae Young, sources said, and worked to assemble a group around Markkanen that might have caught George's attention.

This latest round of Markkanen transfer talks could well be just an attempt by the Jazz to gather information from interested teams, or an attempt to extract an exorbitant offer equivalent to the five first-round picks plus an additional unprotected pick swap from the Knicks for Bridges. The Jazz have indicated to various parties in the NBA so far that they would still be happy to renegotiate and extend Markkanen's contract if the two sides are allowed to do so in August, sources said, and that listening to offers for Markkanen is simply part of good business.”

This is an interesting report, but it doesn't say how serious these talks were. Utah is a team that could have offered Atlanta a lot of picks for Young, but I don't think any player would have made the deal happen.

Now it looks like Utah is going to trade Markkanen and start a complete rebuild with the resources at hand. Could Atlanta be a team intrigued by him?

With the moves the Hawks made this week, they are building a better roster around Young, something they hadn't done up to this point in his career, or at least since reaching the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. The Hawks got valuable picks in the 2025 and 2027 drafts that they didn't have, and were able to sign one of the NBA's best young defenders in Daniels, a perfect complement to Young in the backcourt. Atlanta drafted Zaccharie Risacher with the first pick in the NBA Draft, further underscoring their plan to add defense and size this offseason. It seems like the Hawks have a plan for their roster, and they're not done adding to it yet.

What they shouldn't do, however, is rush things again and try to pull off another big trade. That's what they did when they traded Dejounte Murray in the summer of 2022, and they can't afford to do it again. Atlanta made two critical mistakes this summer: 1) they rushed into it and thought they were closer to contention than they actually were, and 2) they traded for the wrong player in Murray. Murray is a good player on his own, but he wasn't a good fit with Young, and the Hawks paid too much for him.

There have been no reports linking the Hawks to Markkanen this summer, but he has been mentioned as a potential trade target before. In December, Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer had this to say about a possible Markkanen trade, mentioning Atlanta:

“Lauri Markkanen actually emerged as an intriguing, if unlikely, transfer candidate before the buzzer in February. The Jazz had plans to continue competing in the Western Conference after Markkanen emerged as an All-Star in his first season in Salt Lake City, league sources told Yahoo Sports, while Utah entrusted Portland with the goal of signing Damian Lillard and then Jrue Holiday before the start of this season. Moving on from Markkanen would be a marked change in direction from trying to sign an All-NBA-ready point guard to run Utah's offense alongside Markkanen's versatile skill set.

But Markkanen's status has already generated plenty of excitement around the league and will continue to do so if Utah continues to field inquiries from rivals. It would be executive malpractice not to at least understand what it would take to get Markkanen. League staff believe three teams are particularly keen on the Finnish forward at this preliminary stage of transfer talks. Two of those apparent suitors, Sacramento and Atlanta, make sense given the Kings' and Hawks' respective offers for Siakam. The third team that league staff says should continue to pay attention to a potential Markkanen offer is Oklahoma City, which suddenly finds itself second in the West with a plethora of first-round picks.”

The consensus was that Utah might not trade Markkanen unless they get a huge offer, and that's the kind of deal Danny Ainge usually makes. Markkanen is entering the final year of his contract and is expected to land a massive contract extension. If Utah doesn't want to give him that contract, they could try to trade him for the right offer. He might be the best player on the transfer market, and for Markkanen, this has been a remarkable turnaround in his career. After being a solid but not great player with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, Markkanen was an All-Star with the Jazz. This season, the 7-foot-4 forward averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, shooting 48% from the field and 40% from the three-point line. He's one of the game's best offensive players, and it's easy to see why teams want him.

While I think Markkanen is a better fit for the Hawks than Murray, Atlanta would have to overpay for him and use up the rest of their assets to get him. It would likely cost the Hawks the Lakers' pick they acquired in 2025, the 2027 pick they acquired in the New Orleans trade, and their own picks from 2028 onwards. Atlanta would be making the same mistake they made two summers ago when they traded for Murray. Markkanen is a good player, but he won't make the Hawks a Finals contender overnight. If the Hawks acquired him, they would still be behind Boston and New York in the Eastern Conference, and depending on what Philadelphia and Milwaukee do, they could even be behind them. Markkanen gives them size and shooting power, but his defense is not his strength. He would undoubtedly be a productive offensive player alongside Trae Young, but trades that big only work if you're a Finals contender, and I don't think Markkanen is that.

The bottom of the Eastern Conference standings is at a point where Atlanta should be a play-in team with their current roster and, if all goes well, could even finish in the top six. This is a better roster around Young and all the pieces fit together better, similar to the 2021 Conference Finals team. I'm not saying this team will do that, but the team structure makes more sense than it did the past two seasons. There are more moves to be made for the Hawks this offseason, including potential deals for Clint Capela, Larry Nance and possibly De'Andre Hunter. The Hawks should continue to bring the right players to their team, but a blockbuster offer for Lauri Markkanen shouldn't be one of those moves. Atlanta should remain patient and continue to build their roster, which they've already done this offseason. It seems like Atlanta finally has a plan to build a roster around Young and they shouldn't put their foot on the gas too soon again.