Atlanta Hawks Trade Chips Who Could Be Moved This Offseason

It is offically the offseason for the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks had an overall successful season, given the fact that they had to remake the team a few times during the year, with the final version being the most successful. When the Hawks got CJ McCollum, Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Jock Landale, and Gabe Vincent, they finished the year 20-6 after the All-Star Break and earned the 6th seed in the playoffs where they would eventually lose to the New York Knicks.

Despite the strong finish, the Hawks have some big decisions to make. McCollum is a free agent, along with Vincent and Landale, Hield's contract is non-guaranteed until June 25th, and Kuminga has a $24 million team option.

While those are big decisions, what about players that are already on the roster? It feels like Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Onyeka Okongwu are locks to return, given their ability and favorable contracts, but aside from those four, it is an open question about who could be moved.

Let's talk about the most likely trade candidates on the Hawks right now.

1. Corey Kispert

Corey Kispert Atlanta Hawk — Apr 25, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Corey Kispert (24) warms up prior to the game against the New York Knicks for game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Of anyone on the Hawks, I think that Kispert is most likely to be moved, but it might not be that easy.

Kispert was brought in along with McCollum in the Trae Young deal, and his role was up and down with the Hawks. HIs defense was a problem at all times, and he fell out of the rotation towards the end of the regular season, though Quin Snyder brought him back in the playoffs, to no success however.

Kispert has three years remaining on his contract, making $13.9 million next season and $13 million the two years after with no option at the end of the deal. For that amount of money and little production, I think it would be best if the Hawks tried to move off him. But can they?

There are going to be some teams with ample cap room and space this summer that the Hawks could just "salary dump" Kispert to one of those teams while not taking much money back, but they may have to attach some draft capital. Will the Hawks be willing to do that? He is the only contract on the roster that I think is of negative value and to free up some space this offseason, it would be best for the Hawks to move on from him.

2. Zaccharie Risacher

This is going to be a topic with plenty of debate this summer.

Risacher had a good rookie season, finishing second in rookie of the year voting, but this year was a step backward it feels like. Risacher never found any role or consistency and fell out of the rotation completely towards the end of the year.

This all comes down to if the Hawks feel that Risacher still has a future with this team or if there needs to be a clean start with him elsewhere. He was picked No. 1 in 2024 partly because he was projected to have a high floor of being a good role player who can defend and hit threes. He defends just fine and is a solid rebounder as well, but does not have much of an offensive game aside from his three-point shooting, which was up and down this season.

Risacher is owed $13.7 million next season and then the Hawks have to make a decision on his $17.8 million team option for the 2027-2028 season. If he has a similar year to this past one, his trade value might be near zero when it is time to make that decision. He is not a negative value yet and the Hawks could use him as a trade piece to improve.

Either way, it feels like the team can't have both Risacher and Kispert making this kind of money and on the roster at the same time. It would not be surprising if at least one or both are not moved.

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