Georges Niang has been shedding light on the process that saw him traded at the recent deadline.
The Cleveland Cavaliers made a deadline trade to acquire De’Andre Hunter, a move praised by NBA legend Kevin Garnett.
In the other direction, Caris LeVert and Georges Niang were traded away to the Atlanta Hawks.
Niang came agonizingly close to winning a dramatic overtime game against the Knicks in his first week on the Hawks, with his last second shot not quite going down.
Georges Niang has been discussing the trade, speaking via YouTube to explain the process and how he found out.
Niang revealed he learned about the trade in a phone call, minutes after Shams Charania had broken the news via X.
Along with Caris LeVert, the pair made their way to the Hawks, and he has reflected on the stringent medical tests he underwent, which he fully understands considering the Mark Williams situation.
Williams was traded to the LA Lakers from the Charlotte Hornets, and this has now been reversed after complications during his medical checks.
Niang explained that his medicals with the Hawks took ‘hours’, and were part of a ‘whirlwind’ adjustment to his new franchise.
He explained: “By the way they are checking everything, we saw the Mark Williams [situation] so they’re doing X rays, MRIs, jump testing, like making sure you’re healthy, so that they are getting a healthy asset or player.
“I’m doing that with another person, which is Caris LeVert we’re going one after the other. So it was almost like a four or five hour process.”
Niang, 31, admitted he felt nerves meeting his new teammates for the first time at the game, explaining the human side of the sudden move.
He told: “So we we fly in for a four or five hour process, we go to the Hawks game then, and that’s one of our first times, kind of like, meeting everybody.
“It’s just, like, a funky situation, because it’s like, you’re the new kid at school, but you’re thinking in your head, like that, these guys think ‘I’m coming to take their place”
“But it’s all great, we have great guys on the locker room, and then you sit there and you watch them play Milwaukee, and you’re still in a daze because you still don’t know what is like happened.”
He added: “And then they beat Milwaukee, and then you fly to DC overnight, because we have a back to back. And I’m like, God, this team just beat Milwaukee without us. We’re about to play DC like I don’t want to mess anything up.
“So it’s just a whirlwind of emotions so I’ve been living out of a suitcase here for, like, 10 days. And luckily, we’ll have All-Star break so I’ll be able to go home.”
Georges Niang admitted he had one real worry upon learning he had been traded to the Hawks, wondering if he had previously offended any player on the roster, including star man Trae Young.
He explained: “The problem with me is I’ve been known to talk some ___, so I’m looking at their roster like OK… who have I really said some outlandish stuff to?
“Luckily I hadn’t really said anything to Ice Trae.”
