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Hawks Offseason Outlook: Depth Chart, Salary Cap, Roster Moves
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Two days ago, the Atlanta Hawks spoke with the media for the final time this season. As the players jet off to various tropical destinations for R&R, the front office begins work on a crucial offseason.
With limited financial flexibility and a dire need to improve the roster, team president Travis Schlenk has his work cut out for him. He has already said he expects "more turnover" on the roster. So let's preview the Hawks roster, examine their salary cap, and review their options this summer.
Salary Cap
Thanks to Spotrac, we have a clear view of the Hawks' current salary cap situation. Keep in mind that Trae Young's contract will increase by $30 million once he is rightfully named to an All-NBA team.
The Hawks have Bird rights to Delon Wright and Lou Williams, who will be unrestricted free agents. The team has Restricted Bird rights for Kevin Knox and Restricted Early-Bird rights for Skylar Mays. As a two-way player, Sharife Cooper becomes a restricted free agent. Meanwhile, Gorgui Dieng and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot are both unrestricted free agents.
The Hawks have a taxpayer mid-level exception of $6.39 million, which is awarded annually to teams above the cap and above the Luxury Tax Apron ($155,196,200) and can be used for contracts up to 3 years in length.
Additionally, they have two trade exceptions - one for $1.78 million via Boston Celtics for the Bruno Fernando trade and another for $1.66 million via New York Knicks for the Solomon Hill trade. Trade exceptions become available when a team relinquishes more salary than it acquires during a trade. The "credit" balance remains an exception that can be used within the next year to acquire salary via trade without further relinquishing additional salary.
Depth Chart
There will be changes made to the roster. How big or small remains to be seen. Additionally, we do not know the position played by the Hawks first round draft pick (16th overall) or if they will even keep the pick. My inclination is they will use the rookie to help fill out the roster with a cheap contract.
| Point Guard | Shooting Guard | Small Forward | Power Forward | Center |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Trae Young | Kevin Huerter | De'Andre Hunter | John Collins | Clint Capela |
Bogdan Bogdanovic | Jalen Johnson | Danilo Gallinari | Onyeka Okongwu |
With nine players currently under contract, the Hawks will inevitably be adding some new faces this summer. One glaring weak spot is the backup point guard position. This season, Delon Wright thrived in the role and will likely be rewarded with a contract from another team with deeper pockets. If Wright leaves, that further degrades the team's depth and perimeter defense.
What the Hawks lack in cap space, they more than make up for in trade assets. In addition to draft picks, their roster is built to deal. One of the main arguments against shaking up the team at the trade deadline was Clint Capela's and Kevin Huerter's contracts. Now Capela is eligible to be traded, and the poison pill provision in Huerter's deal is gone.
If the Hawks want a significant shakeup this summer, they can go one of two ways - consolidate for a star to pair with Trae Young or offload contracts for more versatility. Of course, this is all under the assumption that the organization wants to remain under the luxury tax.
Areas for Improvement
Defense. Thanks for attending my TED Talk. The Hawks finished the regular season with a bottom-five defensive rating. Almost every championship team is top-ten in both offensive and defensive ratings. De'Andre Hunter, John Collins, and Clint Capela regressed this season, but they are all capable defenders.
On the other end of the floor, the Hawks had the second-best offensive rating and three-point shooting percentage during the regular season. Unfortunately, the Miami Heat dried up the Hawks' wet shooting in the playoffs. As a result, the Hawks went from 113.9 points per game in the regular season to 97.4 points per game in the postseason.
Trae Young struggled immensely, but equal blame goes to the coaching staff. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra made Young the singular focus of his team's defensive strategy. Hawks head coach Nate McMillan either failed to prepare for the Heat's gameplan (an easy task) or was unable to make the necessary adjustments during the series (tough but not impossible).
The Heat series offer some silver linings. It exposed the Hawks' flaws in such a brutal and publicly humiliating fashion that Atlanta has no option other than to improve. The effort, defense, coaching, and overall brand of basketball must adapt. From the front office down to the players, the entire organization bet on themselves this season. Now they have all learned that staying stagnant in the NBA is just good enough to be on the treadmill of mediocrity.
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