The Hawks were universally praised for the offseason that they had and it has set them up to be a factor in the Eastern Conference playoff race later in the season. One of the more interesting moves that the Hawks made though was trading former first round pick Kobe Bufkin to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations.

When he was drafted in 2023, Bufkin was looked at as a potential two-way guard fit alongside Trae Young, but injuries kept him from making any serious progress as a player in his first two seasons. After he was moved, the Hawks have yet to figure out their backup guard situation, but Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and others have taken on more ball-handling responsibilities.

Should he have been traded sooner?

When naming each team’s biggest offseason regret, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley said that the Hawks was that they did not trade Bufkin sooner:

“The Hawks were a popular pick on offseason winners list, so the major missteps that have plagued them in past summers (the Dejounte Murray trade waves hello) were thankfully unseen in Atlanta.

Forced to nitpick, then, the Hawks really squandered whatever trade value Kobe Bufkin once theoretically held, didn’t they? In 2023, they made him the 15th overall pick. Two years later, on the heels of a couple injury-impacted, unproductive campaigns, Atlanta routed him to the Brooklyn Nets for only cash considerations.

Clearly, his market had cratered by that point, but if the Hawks knew they weren’t keeping him around, they could’ve at least moved him before he laid a bunch of bricks and struggled with turnover trouble in Las Vegas.”

It is tough to say they should have traded him sooner as his trade value was likely very low across the league due to his injuries. I also think it was fair to give him another shot in Summer League to see how he performed coming off of his 2024-2025 injury and then determine if he fit with this roster or not.

Selected by the Hawks with the 15th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Bufkin appeared in 27 games over the course of his two-year career, averaging 5.0 points and 1.6 assists in 11.9 minutes. He saw action in 14 games with the College Park Skyhawks of the NBA G League, recording 23.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.4 steals in 32.0 minutes (.444 FG%, .356 3FG%, .829 FT%).