Kirk Hinrich to the Hawks: Fantasy Impact

Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong have been traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Mike Bibby, Mo Evans, Jordan Crawford and a 1st overall pick.

This is a great move for both teams as it allowed both teams to address areas of need.

The Wizards got rookie Jordan Crawford who is a potent scorer but is known more for his ‘Nike-Gate’ dunk over LeBron James before Jordan came into the NBA. They also acquired a 1st round pick which will help their rebuild along quicker than otherwise expected. Mike Bibby is a craft vet who can spell Wall when needed and Evans plays above average defense at the shooting guard position…something that cannot be said about Nick Young.

The Hawks on the other hand land their starting point guard for the next five years and also a young and promising center who can allow Horford to play more power forward where he is even more dominant than when he plays at center.

Fantasy Impact:

Nick Young’s fantasy value takes a hit with this trade as one guard left and three came in. Jordan Crawford has a solid offensive game and should compete with Young for minutes. Evans will also look to take some of Young’s minutes. Young’s scoring average will likely dip to the 14-15 ppg range.

Jordan Crawford is a promising young guard out of Xavier with solid potential. He likes to be the ‘man’ but he will have no problem playing second fiddle to John Wall for years to come. He has no fantasy value unless Nick Young gets hurt again.

Kirk Hinrich will step in as the Hawks starting point guard and should be picked up in all leagues. Hinrich is still available in 59% of Yahoo! leagues and that means you should check your wire now. He will likely post no more than 12 points and 5 assists the rest of the way as his impact will not always translate to box score statistics.

Mike Bibby loses all fantasy value in Washington and will be employed as nothing more than a backup. Of course a John Wall injury would make him instantly fantasy relevant.

Hilton Armstrong will be coming off the bench but if he shows enough the Hawks would love to play Armstrong at C, with Horford at PF ans Josh Smith at SF. He is not fantasy relevant unless he starts to see oer 24 minutes per game.

Mo Evans will be low on the depth chart but due to his ability to play both the 2 and the 3 he should see the floor enough to make an impact when called upon. He is someone to put on your radar in case of injury to any of the following: Rashard Lewis, Josh Howard, Jordan Crawford or Nick Young.