3 Hawks Who Could Be Traded Between Now and the End of July

The NBA offseason has slowed down after a wild week of trades and signings and aside from the upcoming decisions from LeBron James and the restricted free agents on the market, rosters are beginning to settle in.

For the Atlanta Hawks, they actually have too many players on their roster if you are already looking ahead to the season. While teams can roster 20 players during the summer, the roster limit for the season is 15. Currently, the Hawks have 16 players after signing all three of their rookies to standard contracts.

So it is clear that the Hawks are going to have to clear at least one roster spot before the season and potentially two if they opt to bring back Jonathan Kuminga. Atlanta could either waive a player or two, or they could make trades, which I think is the most likely option.

Which Hawks could be on the move either seperately or packaged together?

Buddy Hield

This is probably the easiest answer when it comes to who won't be on the Hawks next season. Hield is still a fantastic shooter and helps a team, but making nearly $10 million for the upcoming season is a bit much, and not only that, but Hield was never in the rotation for the Hawks after being acquired from the Warriors.

It was pretty surprising to see the Hawks guarantee Hield's contract for this season instead of waiving him. It was assumed that the Hawks possibly were on the verge of sending Hield's contract out in a trade, but so far, that has not happened.

At guard, Atlanta has CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Kingston Flemings, Aaron Wiggins, and Devin Carter, leaving little room for Hield to get on the court, especially with his defensive shortcomings.

If any Hawk is traded between now and the end of the month, it is probably going to be Hield.

Corey Kispert

Kispert is in a similar boat as Hield. He is an excellent shooter, but has severe shortcomings on the defensive end of the floor and is making a bit too much money. It is going to be harder to move Kispert though because he has three years left on his contract.

Kispert played more than Hield did for the Hawks, but by the end of the season, he had mostly fallen out of the rotation when facing the best teams in the NBA. The Hawks could hope he shoots the ball better and with another year with the team, can improve somewhat on the defensive end, but I would not be surprised if they tried to move him and create roster space.

Zaccharie Risacher

I don't think the Hawks are actively looking to move Risacher and would probably prefer to move Hield or Kispert to create the necessary roster space. However, Atlanta has to make a decision on Risacher's $17.2 million team option for next season by October and if the Hawks don't want to have that contract on their books for next season, they should decline the option and make him an expiring contract or they will need to go ahead and trade him and get something of value for him.

Risacher also fell out of the rotation near the end of the season, but the Hawks don't exactly have a backup wing if they don't bring back Kuminga.

Can Risacher have the breakout season he needs in year three or will the Hawks go ahead and decide to move in a nother direction?

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