Onyeka Okongwu trade target?

I was wondering if Onyeka Okongwu might be an interesting trade target for us. I’m no good at the trade machine/fake trade stuff, but here’s why I think he might be interesting here:

Reasons why he doesn’t fit great in Atlanta:

  • they gave him a 4/62 contract which makes him the ~25th highest paid center in the league, and I think it’s clear he’s not really a full time starting caliber center in the league. So maybe Atlanta wants to get off of the long term money.

  • to that point, they gave him 4 years to be better than an aging Clint Capela and he hasn’t been able to do so consistently.

  • he’s just OK as a PnR rim runner/play finisher which is what Atlanta really needs with Trae

  • he’s undersized, just an OK rebounder, and gets pushed around by bigger centers so he’s not really a full time starting center in the NBA.

  • I know the money doesn’t work out straight up, but Ayton’s contract expires earlier giving them flexibility, he’s a better rebounder, lob threat, and play finisher, and he’s younger than Capela

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Reasons why I think Okongwu would work here:

  • Clingan will be on a rookie contract for Okongwu’s extension so him being overpaid isn’t the worst thing in the world

  • he’s still only 24 years old and fits our timeline

  • most importantly, he’s an awesome perimeter defender and switchable 1-5 which makes him really good for defending 5-out teams and the matchups that Clingan won’t be able to stay on the floor against. He’s kind of like an inverse Clingan where he’s a little undersized, super versatile and mobile defensively, but not the best rebounder or drop coverage anchor

  • we don’t want to be like the Gobert Utah teams that build their entire defense around Gobert and then have no answers when you have to switch 1-5…we have good perimeter defenders currently but no great small ball 5 (unless you think Deni can do it in all the matchups where Clingan can’t play which he CAN do but I don’t think it’s ideal)

  • he’s probably more amenable to coming off the bench than Ayton is

I don’t have the energy to make fake trades (maybe someone smarter than me can do it lol) but I really like his skillset here as a change of pace to Clingan and I wonder if he’s getttable for cheap-ish, considering his contract is probably negative value at this point.

Thoughts?