SALT LAKE CITY — A weird but funny day for the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Dwight Howard, as talks of trades on Twitter — and a trade — all went down. More fun stories from the world of sports in today’s From Left Field.

Hawks, Hornets and Dwight Howard have wild trade day

With the NBA Draft almost here, many teams are making moves quickly to try see if they need to reload via the draft.

If you’re a team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, you may need to make as many moves as possible to try to build a team that is capable of overtaking LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many teams in the east are looking to get better via trades.

For the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and center Dwight Howard, Tuesday was one big, funny and weird day of trade talk — then trade action.

Things got started midday, as the Hawks’ Twitter account, poking fun at themselves, in a way, about their team.

According to our mentions, we should trade for everybody. — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 20, 2017

bruh. same. — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) June 20, 2017

Then, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Twitter account decided to get involved.

the trade machine says this works so u should definitely do it pic.twitter.com/GHCxCk0qAP — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) June 20, 2017

The Hawks agreed with the Clippers, saying a tweet trade would work on ESPN’s Trade Machine.

The Clippers are correct...ESPN trade machine says okay: pic.twitter.com/r1eLa5dptV — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 20, 2017

The Hornets, trying to get a good deal, asked for a Snap with the puppy filter as part of the trade.

Throw in a snap with the puppy filter and we’ll talk. — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) June 20, 2017

The Hawks responded with a solid counter offer.

Counter offer: pic.twitter.com/f77z3vmU7w — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 20, 2017

The Hornets requested a second round Instagram post as the last piece of the puzzle.

Add a future second round Instagram post and we have a deal 🤝 — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) June 20, 2017

Fortunately for the Hornets, the trade machine accepted the deal.

You drive a hard bargain, Hornets. You're lucky the trade machine still accepts. Deal! pic.twitter.com/7Jl7unR0oI — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 20, 2017

The teams completed the deal, and everyone got what they wanted.

DONE 🙌 Great doing business with you fellas. Looking forward to seeing how this pans out over time. — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) June 20, 2017

Overall, it was a fun exchange that entertained many on social media. But just a few hours later, the Hawks and Hornets completed an actual trade. Atlanta sent center Dwight Howard and 31st pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft to Charlotte in exchange for Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli and the 41st pick in the upcoming draft.

Did the Hawks and Hornets’ social media people know a trade between the teams was in the works, hence the witty Twitter exchange? Perhaps. But overall, it was a bit of fun for all.

Well, except maybe for Dwight Howard.

Late afternoon Tuesday, Howard took to Twitter to get his fans’ thoughts on the NBA trades and draft.

Ok Twitter Fans ,, give me your thoughts , trades or otherwise & Remember 2B-Nice 🤗 pic.twitter.com/Nl6lQFVvBN — Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) June 21, 2017

Just a few minutes later, Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Howard’s imminent trade to Charlotte from Atlanta.

Sources: Charlotte is sending Miles Plumlee, Marco Belenelli and 41st pick to Atlanta for Dwight Howard and 31st pick. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) June 21, 2017

Now did Howard know he was being traded and decide to have some fun on social media? Perhaps as well.

But what if he didn’t? How great would that be!

The NBA can be a tough, at times heartless business. But for the Hawks, Hornets and Dwight Howard, it seems like they took business and made it a bit light-hearted and funny.

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