How could the Hawks pry Austin Reaves from the Lakers in free agency?

If the Knicks are able to take down the Spurs tonight, the NBA offseason is going to arrive for all 30 NBA teams. Even if they don't, there are 28 other teams that have already started prepping for the summer ahead, and the Atlanta Hawks are one of those teams.

The Hawks enter the offseason as one of the most interesting teams in the NBA. They had one of the best finishes to the season, surging from 10th to 6th in the Eastern Conference and taking the Knicks to six games, which seems like quite the accomplishment given how dominant New York has been during the playoffs.

Atlanta is looking to take that next step from a solid playoff team to a legitimate Eastern Conference contender, but they also don't want to use all of the assets at their disposal to do so. Atlanta is frequently mentioned as a potential trade suitor for Celtics star Jaylen Brown, but there is a way that they can acquire a high-level player while not giving up any draft picks.

Big -name players don't usually hit free agency anymore in the NBA, but Lakers guard Austin Reaves is going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and he is going to be the top player on a thin market. The Hawks have been mentioned as a team that could create space to pursue Reaves, including most recently by Lakers reporter Dan Woike:

"Multiple front-office sources around the league, granted anonymity to freely discuss an opposing player, expect Reaves to have interest from the Brooklyn Nets, with a four-year, $178.5 million contract expected to be offered. League sources said the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks are among a group of interested teams that can create space to make competitive offers. Other teams could also emerge."

Pursuing Reaves makes plenty of sense for the Hawks. He fits on their age timeline with Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, and Onyeka Okongwu, would be an upgrade over CJ McCollum in the backcourt, and he is coming off the best season of his career and might get even better with more responsibility.

But how can the Hawks actually land Reaves?

Mapping out the path

Austin Reaves Los Angeles Laker — Dec 30, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) is defended by Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (13) in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Entering the offseason, the Hawks do not have the amount of cap space to outright sign Reaves. They have the following guaranteed contracts for next season:

Jalen Johnson- $30 million
Dyson Daniels- $25 million
Onyeka Okongwu- $16.1 million
Nickeil Alexander-Walker- $14.4 million
Corey Kispert- $13.9 million
Zaccharie Risacher- $13.8 million
Asa Newell- $3.3 million

That is around $116 million in guaranteed contracts next season for seven players. If the Hawks opt to not guarantee Buddy Hield's $9.6 million contract, they will still be on the hook for $3 million of his deal, but would save them over $6 million.

I think it is also very likely the Hawks pick up Mouhamed Gueye's $2.4 million team option for next season or decline it and extend him. If you add in Gueye's option and Hield's guaranteed money, the Hawks are around $121 million next season for eight players. Atlanta has three draft picks (No. 8, No. 23, and No. 57) that they will have to have room for as well.

The NBA salary cap is set for $165 million next season.

The Hawks, or any other team interested in Reaves, cannot outbid the Lakers, who can offer him a five-year $241 million max extension this summer.

If the Hawks wanted to get enough space to be able to bring in Reaves and still have room to make other moves would be to decline Jonathan Kuminga's $24.3 million team option, move on from CJ McCollum, and move one or both of Corey Kipsert and Zaccharie Risacher and take little back in return.

The last part is going to be hard to do.

There have been reports of the Hawks looking to move the No. 23 pick and they could look to attach that to Kispert and move him to a team with cap space that could absorb his salary without having to give the Hawks any money back, such as the Chicago Bulls or the Brooklyn Nets. That would free up close to $14 million in space and the Hawks could offer Reaves the kind of contract that he wants.

It is not a complicated path to getting enough space for Reaves, but landing him is a different thing entirely. The Hawks will likely know in advance of the free agency period wheher or not they are going to have a legitimate chance to sign Reaves.

Reaves would be a game changing addition to the Hawks, but it won't be easy to pry him away from Los Angeles. Atlanta is going to have a lot of options to fill their backcourt needs this offseason and Reaves is going to be at the top of that list.

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