SEFOLOSHA TO THE HAWKS BY SIGN-AND-TRADE
In a sign-and-trade deal, the Atlanta Hawks acquired swingman Thabo Sefolosha, the draft rights to combo forward Giorgos Printezis, and cash from the Oklahoma City Thunder for a trade exception worth $4 million and the draft rights to center Sofoklis Schortsanitis.
What does it give the Atlanta Hawks
In Sefolosha the Hawks get one of the NBA's most effective man-to-man defenders, a top-tier role player who can be a stopper at several positions. He's a nice complement to sweet-shooting swingman {P Kyle Korver}, and along with fellow newcomer {P Kent Bazemore} he gives Atlanta a strong boost of defense and versatility on the wings. Printezis is a very athletic energy guy who has an NBA-style game, but it's looking unlikely he'll ever make the move from Europe to the NBA.
What does it give the Oklahoma City Thunder
By helping the Hawks sign Sefolosha at the salary he wanted, OKC gets a $4 million trade exception. This means that over the next year the Thunder can add a salary for that amount without moving salary the other way (as is usually required in NBA trades), so this is about financial wiggle-room for Oklahoma City. Big, bruising Schortsanitis will probably be a helpful post player for the Thunder if he ever decides to leave Europe, but that doesn't appear likely.
Fantasy impact
Despite the solid possibility Sefolosha will start regularly for the Hawks (like he did for the Thunder), his excellent contributions on 'D' don't usually translate into fantasy value (and he's not much of an offensive factor). More than affecting any fantasy utility Sefolosha might have, this deal probably saps {P DeMarre Carroll} of any statistical usefulness. We expect {P Kyle Korver}'s numbers to stay roughly the same as ever. On the Oklahoma City side of this swap, {P Reggie Jackson} and {P Jeremy Lamb} both benefit fantasy-wise from the departure of Sefolosha, but may lose that value with the recent arrival of {P Anthony Morrow}. The two European players in this deal (Printezis and Shortsanitis) both have fairly NBA-friendly games, but both are pushing 30 and both have been traded enough times that it looks unlikely they'll ever arrive stateside.
