Bullet Points: Two dramatically shaken up rosters face off in Wizards-Hawks

Tonight, the Washington Wizards take on the Hawks down in Atlanta. 

The Hawks recently stumbled through an eight-game losing streak, but have won two of three to right the ship. The Wizards, meanwhile, followed up a 16-game losing streak with their first three-game win streak of the season. They’ve since dropped a relatively close one to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Both teams dramatically shook up their rosters at the trade deadline, but none of the newly-acquired players have made their respective debuts yet. Both teams were sellers at the deadline.

I’ve got you covered ahead of tipoff with all the stats and storylines you need to know.

The Trae-d is imminent

Atlanta shipped off De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic at the deadline, and the best player they got back was Terance Mann. They are staring down the barrel of a rebuild right now, and Trae Young is almost certainly the next domino to fall.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Young, who lost two of his best teammates days after missing out on the All-Star Game. Or, as he put it, “Getting Trae-d”:

Well, it looks like Young is about to get Trae-d-ed this offseason as the Hawks transition to a rebuild around Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Dyson Daniels. That’s actually a really awesome starting point for a rebuild, all things considered.

Waiting on the oldheads

Marcus Smart and Khris Middleton, the two biggest names the Wizards acquired at the trade deadline, will continue to wait to make their Wizards debuts — both have been ruled out tonight. 

I honestly question whether either will ever actually play a game for Washington. They’ve both been battling injuries the past couple seasons and have seen their on-court effectiveness drastically diminished. 

Smart won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022, and Middleton is a three-time All-Star, but they’re both north of 30 and both look to be in the twilights of their respective careers. Time will tell what comes of this duo, but I’d bet at least one of the two never plays a game for the Wizards.

Conclusions

The Wizards are firmly in “Capture the Flagg” mode. Especially with a depleted roster, I would be shocked if they pull this one through.

The Hawks, meanwhile, have no incentive whatsoever to tank. The San Antonio Spurs own Atlanta’s first-round pick this year, and the Hawks don’t control their own first-round pick until 2028. That’s what makes the fire-sale in Atlanta so surprising — why did Atlanta ship off winning players like Hunter and Bogdanovic for nothing in return when they don’t even control their own picks?