Atlanta Hawks acquire David Roddy from Phoenix Suns in exchange for EJ Lidd

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hawks have sent forward EJ Liddell to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for forward David Roddy in what appears to be a rare player-for-player trade.

This isn’t the second player-for-player trade of the offseason: the Oklahoma City Thunder sent Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Alex Caruso. While this move isn’t of the same magnitude, it’s certainly interesting for two reasons.

First, it ends any possibility that Liddell could play a Paul Millsap-style forward role while in Atlanta. The former Ohio State standout was acquired from New Orleans in the Dejounte Murray trade. He played sparingly for the Pelicans and saw extended minutes this summer with the Hawks’ Summer League team. While he didn’t have the consistency of some of the other players on that team, he played very well against the San Antonio Spurs in the Hawks’ second game of the tournament. Below is his game report against the Spurs:

“Liddell followed up a quiet game against Washington with a fantastic game against the Spurs. He scored 22 points on 43 percent shooting and attempted a game-high 10 free throws and two 3-pointers. Liddell used all of his 6-foot-2, 260-pound frame to intimidate defenders. After recovering from an ACL injury that wiped out his freshman year, it appears Liddell is getting back to being the player he was at Ohio State.”

“Saddiq Bey gave the Hawks some playing time last year and Liddell could certainly fill that role next season. Between Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, De’Andre Hunter, Vit Krejci and Garrison Mathews, the Hawks actually have a pretty solid collection of talented forwards. However, the physicality that Liddell would bring isn’t easily replicable in a backup role. It also helps that he’s a credible three-point shooter. If he can continue that against Los Angeles, he’ll be a very good candidate for a two-way deal. At a minimum, it would make sense to give him a heavy workload in College Park as he continues to develop.”

Instead of giving Liddell a chance to hone his game in College Park, it appears Atlanta decided to go after Roddy. Roddy, a former first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers, was traded to Memphis on draft night for guard De’Anthony Melton. At Colorado State, he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, making him one of the best players in the Mountain West Conference during his junior season.

As a rookie, he played in 70 games for Memphis, averaging 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds. Halfway through his sophomore season, Roddy was traded to Phoenix and saw very little playing time for the Suns as a backup forward. He made a few runs in Summer League for Phoenix and had a solid tournament. His 36.7% three-point shooting percentage clearly stood out and his play improved after a rough first game. He was a standout in the Thunder’s Summer League matchup with the Suns, where he scored 21 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 7-13 from the field and 4-8 from three-point range. He has the potential to become a backup forward for the Hawks as he could develop an NBA-caliber three-point shot. His size (6’4″, 250 lbs) would also be useful for Atlanta.

Although his stint with the Hawks was short-lived, we wish EJ the best in Phoenix.