THE TRADE that will see Hawthorn runner Brad Hill join his brother Stephen at Fremantle will likely happen later in the NAB AFL Trade Period due to a lack of bargaining chips at the Dockers' disposal.

Hill is contracted at the Hawks until the end of 2017 but they are willing to move him on to the Dockers.

Jason Dover, of Stride Sports Management, told NAB AFL Trade Radio on Wednesday that a deal could have been done reasonably quickly if the Dockers had their second-round selection.

They traded that pick to Gold Coast last year as part of a pick swap.

"If (Fremantle had a second-round selection) it would have fallen around the 21 mark and that might have been enough to get it done straight away," Dover said.

"We're going to be waiting on other things potentially to drop in before we know what Fremantle do have to give up for Bradley."

Despite the potential hold-up, it is highly unlikely Hill will be at West Coast in 2017.

"We've made it pretty clear to both Hawthorn and West Coast that Bradley has said that his preference is to come back and play at Fremantle," he said.

"We've been open with our communication with West Coast. We had exploratory talks to begin with to let them know what we were planning to do with Bradley at their request. They had asked about Bradley."