The Atlanta Hawks have reunited with an All-Star guard from their past.
In a deal first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hawks have sent Allen Crabbe to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for guard-forward Treveon Graham and former Hawks guard Jeff Teague. The teams confirmed the deal on Thursday afternoon.
Teague played for the Hawks from 2009-10 to 2015-16, earning an All-Star bid in 2014-15 after he averaged 15.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.
Teague is averaging 13.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 6.1 apg this season for Minnesota, appearing in 34 games with 13 starts. For his career with Atlanta, Teague averaged 11.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg and 5.0 apg in 439 games (305 starts) and ranks fifth all time in franchise history in assists (2,671). He will likely serve as a backup to Hawks star guard Trae Young, who currently ranks third in the NBA in scoring (29.1 ppg) and fourth in assists (8.5 apg).
The Hawks originally parted with Teague in the summer of 2016, trading him to the Indiana Pacers as part of a three-team deal that saw the Utah Jazz acquire George Hill and the Hawks get Taurean Prince. In the summer of 2017, Teague agreed to a reported three-year, $57 million deal with the Wolves as Minnesota aimed to make a playoff push.
The Timberwolves were busy in the summer of 2017, adding Teague and veteran big man Taj Gibson in free agency while also working an offseason trade for All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler. While the moves paid off in a playoff trip, the Wolves were swept in the first round of the 2018 playoffs by the Houston Rockets. From there, Minnesota’s promising future fell apart as Butler demanded a trade early in 2018-19 and the Wolves went from 47-35 to 36-46 last season.
Graham has been a regular rotation player for the Wolves, averaging 5.2 ppg in 20.1 mpg. The undrafted swingman is on his third team in four seasons. Crabbe was also a role player for the Hawks, averaging 5.1 ppg in 18.6 mpg.
Kevin Smith of Yahoo Sports reports this trade may just be the beginning of more deals for both the Hawks and Wolves. The teams have struggled so far this season, with Atlanta as the Eastern Conference’s worst team at 9-32 while Minnesota is 15-25 and No. 12 in the West, 3 1/2 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 spot.
I have heard that the Timberwolves have been very active in trade talks. This trade with Atlanta seems to be mostly about creating an open roster spot. Minnesota is still in search of a young-ish option at PG and realizes an imbalanced player trade may be the route to get there.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 16, 2020
I'm also told Atlanta isn't done with trade talks. Multiple opposing teams say Hawks are open for business to talk anyone on the roster outside of the young core. ATL is willing to take on some bad money. One exec said "They've got $80M in cap space and no one to spend it on."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 16, 2020
Teague, Crabbe and Graham will all be unrestricted free agents this summer. The Hawks have some additional expiring contracts on their roster — most notably Chandler Parsons and Evan Turner — who could garner interest in the market, Smith reports.
