Atlanta Hawks Offseason Primer: Free Agents, Draft Capital, Salary Cap Space, Trades

The Atlanta Hawks had an impressive 46-36 season that included a 20-6 mark after the All-Star break, which was impressive considering how many times this roster changed over the season. The playoffs ended with a 51-point beatdown in game six at the hands of the New York Knicks. Now Atlanta heads into what is an interesting offseason with some big decisions that are going to have to be made.

Let's break down what the coming weeks and months are going to look like for Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh and the rest of the front office.

Free agents

The Hawks have a number of unrestricted free agents heading into the summer. The most prominent of them is CJ McCollum.

McCollum became a starter for the Hawks after the Trae Young trade and he provided the kind of veteran leadership and shot making that the team needed from him. He became a postseason hero for his performances in games two and three vs the Knicks, but was not able to build on those after the fact. Whether he is back or not is one of the big questions that the Hawks have to face this offseason.

Other unrestricted free agents include Gabe Vincent, Jock Landale, and Tony Bradley. Of the three, Landale is the most likely to be brought back as a potential third center, but it would be a surprise if either Vincent or Bradley were to return to Atlanta.

There are a couple of big team options the Hawks need to decide on for next season. Jonathan Kuminga has a $24 million team option and Mo Gueye has a $2 million team option. It would be pretty surprising to see the Hawks not pick up Gueye's option, but Kuminga is the one to monitor. The Hawks will have to decide what to do with Kuminga's option.

Do they pick up the option and keep him on the team? Do they pick it up and try and trade him? Do they decline it and try to extend him? Do they decline the option and just move on? Kuminga had flashes, but was very inconsistent during his time in Atlanta and it was hard to judge such a small sample size. This is arguably the top storyline to watch with the Hawks this offseason.

Keaton Wallace is a restricted free agent. Buddy Hield's contract becomes fully guaranteed on June 25th, it is only partially guaranteed leading up to that date. I would not expect him to be back on the Hawks due to how little he played after being acquired from the Warriors, but he has been a great locker presence, especially for Zaccharie Risacher, who talked about how Hield had been mentoring him since coming to Atlanta.

Draft Capital

The Hawks are one of two playoff teams that is in the draft lottery with a chance to get the No. 1 pick (Oklahoma City is the other) and it is not a small chance either.

Due to a draft night trade with the New Orleans Pelicans last summer, the Hawks own an unprotected 2026 first round pick that is the most favorable of the Pelicans and the Milwaukee Bucks' The Pelicans enter the draft lottery with the 7th best odds to win the lottery (29.3% for top four, 6.8% for No.1 pick) and the Bucks are 10th (13.9% for top four, 3% for No. 1). In a draft that is as talented as this one, the Hawks getting to add a top young talent to the team is huge.

Atlanta also has the No. 23 pick in the draft and the No. 57 pick.

Cap Space

The NBA salary cap is set at $165 million for the upcoming 2026-2027 season.

Some numbers to keep in mind heading into the offseason:

Luxury tax: $201 million
1st Apron: $209 million
2nd Apron: $222 million

If the Hawks pick up Kuminga's option and keep Buddy Hield, they will still be $36 million below the luxury tax line.

They will have access to the non-tax midlevel exception ($15.1 million), the Biannual exception ($5.1 million, four trade exceptions ($11 million, $6.7 million, $4.5 million, and a $2.3 million exception) as well as the veteran minimum.

There are other ways for the Hawks to open up some space as well.

Trades

One thing to note about trades this offseason, I would not expect Atlanta to go big game hunting for some mega star that becomes available via trade. Yesterday, Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh reiterated that Atlanta is not one player away from being a contender and that they are going to be patient and rely on development:

"We are not one player away from this, the best iteration of this team is going to be through development and our players currently getting better. We're really excited about the future and what holds there, from the draft to the flexibility moving forward, all that stuff. We're in a good place, position set up moving forward, and our coaching staff has just been remarkable this year."

With that said, if the right deal is available, Saleh has proven to be open to making the right deal for the right fit and the right price. He made a swing for Kritaps Porzingis last offseason for just Terance Mann and the No. 22 pick and although that trade did not work out, he still moved off the Mann deal and took a swing on a high upside player. It is too early to identify that player now, but just because he is not going to be trading multiple first round picks and players for a superstar does not mean he is not keeping an eye on the market.

Two players to watch on the Hawks when it comes to trades are Corey Kispert and Zaccharie Risacher. Kispert was brought over in the Trae Young trade and has three years left on his deal. He struggled mightily on defense and does not bring mch to the floor aside from shooting. The Hawks could try to move his deal to create space, but they may have to attach draft capital to it.

Risacher began the year as a starter, but was benched for McCollum later in the year and saw his minutes continue to dwindle and it is fair to wonder if the former No. 1 pick still has a place on this roster or if he needs a fresh start somewhere.

The group of Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Onyeka Okongwu, and Dyson Daniels is very unllikely to move, but in the NBA, I will never say never (though it is highly, highly unlikely).

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