How Can the Atlanta Hawks Take Advantage of the Roster Crunch That The Thunder Face Next Season?

In one of the best series in recent NBA history, the San Antonio Spurs stopped the Thunder's chance of back-to-back titles and sent Oklahoma City to the same spot that 27 other teams are at and that is the offseason.

The Thunder have been one of the most well put together sports teams. They have drafted and developed at such a high level and have multiple favorable contracts on their books as well as a load of draft picks at their disposal. But similar to the Boston Celtics last offseason (not a perfect parallel), Oklahoma City is facing a roster crunch as well as a financial crunch that the second apron creates in the NBA.

There are going to be teams circling the Thunder this summer to see if they let players go, trade certain players, or trade picks in this 2026 draft to clear up space for next season, and the Atlanta Hawks should be one of those teams.

Hawks and Thunder offseason outlook

Aaron Wiggins Oklahoma City Thunde — May 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins (21) dribbles the ball against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half during game six of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

This summer, the Hawks have $116,704,230 in guaranteed contracts, and the salary cap for the upcoming season is going to be $165 million. If the Hawks pick up Jonathan Kuminga's $24.3 million team option, Mouhamed Gueye's $2.4 million team option, and keep Buddy Hield's salary ($9,658,536) on the books, they will be at $153,062,766 for 10 players, and they have three picks in this upcoming draft, including two first-round picks.

That is not the picture for the Thunder.

Oklahoma City has $193,339,150 committed to 12 players, and they have three big team options to decide on. Isaiah Hartenstein ($28,500,000), Luguentz Dort ($18,222,222), and Kenrich Williams ($7,163,000), as well as three draft picks in this 2026 draft. If the Thunder pick up the options or decline them to give them new contracts, that is 15 players for the roster.

That is what is called a roster crunch.

What can the Hawks do?

For a team that just won a title and was a dominant regular-season team that began the postseason 8-0 to get to the conference finals, the Thunder have a lot of questions around them.

How the Thunder get to 14 or 15 players for next season is the biggest question.

Could they trade all three of this year's draft picks for future picks and decide to run it back with this same team, despite being well in to the second apron? That is a very real possibility. Could they move some bench guys to clear up room? Would they decline the options for Dort or Hartenstein to just save a lot of money easily? Would they actually considering trading either Jalen Williams or Chet Holmgren to clear up space for now and the future?

All of those feel like they are on the table.

I think the No. 1 player the Hawks should have their eyes on is Harteinstein.

Hartenstein is such a vital part of the Thunder's defense and gives them so much versatility on both ends of the floor. Atlanta is searching for a center to pair with Onyeka Okongwu and whether it is free agency, the draft, or via trade, Atlanta needs to target someone with size who can help on the interior and rebound. Hartenstein does that while being a good passer, rim protecter, and he creates turnovers on defense.

However, I don't think the Thunder are going to let him leave. If so, Atlanta should be working hard to do what they need to do to get a deal done, but it seems like a longshot.

After Hartenstein, I think the Hawks should be looking at acquiring the Thunder's picks in this draft.

The Thunder and Hawks are the two teams in this year's postseason that have lottery picks. Atlanta has the No. 8 overall pick and No. 23, while the Thunder have No. 12, No. 17, and No. 37. Would Sam Presti and the Thunder front office package these picks to get up to No. 8 to get the top player they like in the draft? Could they package the two firsts and a players such as Aaron Wiggins or Isaiah Joe to move up and clear roster room? That would make the Hawks a deeper team and give them three-first round picks to use or trade.

What about anyone else?

If the Thunder decline Dort's team option, I do think that he could make some sense for Atlanta. He is an elite perimeter defender and would be the kind of veteran presence this young team needs in the postseason, and they lacked that aside from CJ McCollum against the Knicks. Atlanta is going to have access to its non-tax mid-level exception this summer ($15,049,000) and while it might be a slight pay cut, it might be worth it for the Hawks, who already have two elite perimeter defenders in Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Oklahoma City has two players, Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber, who were 1st round picks in the last two drafts, and they have not played because of the Thunder's insane depth. Sorber was on the Hawks' radar in last year's draft, but do the Hawks want to take on two players who have not played, including Sorber who missed this season with an injury.

Finally, could Atlanta be in the market for Jalen Williams or Chet Holmgren if the Thunder make them available?

I don't think the Thunder will decide to do that, but after this result, it is not impossible. The Thunder had a great record without Williams, and he is about to become very expensive. He is an elite two-way player, but could the Thunder move him if they feel they can win without him? He is the kind of two-way star the Hawks need, and he is still very young.

Last night was about as bad of a night as Holmgren could have had and it makes one wonder if how ineffective he was against Victor Wembanyama in this series and how invisible he was last night has OKC re-evaluating his place on this team. Atlanta needs an elite rim protecter and he can stretch the floor as well, making him a good fit. The cost is probably too prohibitive, but it is worth mentioning.

I think Atlanta is uniquely set up to try and take advantage of this roster situation the Thunder are about to face. The Hawks should be interested in the two first round picks, Hartenstein, Dort, Wiggins, Joe, Sorber, Williams, or Holmgren. All of these players would have a positive impact on the team and fill real holes on this team.

The coming weeks are going to be interesting as the NBA world watches the Thunder to see what they decide to do for next year's team.

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