Analyst Reveals What Hawks Should Do If Free Agency Started Today

The Atlanta Hawks are going to be front and center in NBA offseason talk in the coming months and that is because of the potential breakup of the Trae Young and Dejounte Murray backcourt, winning the NBA Draft Lottery and getting the No. 1 overall pick, other veterans being on the trade block such as Clint Capela, and the looming extension for breakout star Jalen Johnson. Most of the Hawks offseason activity is going to revolve around trade talks and the draft and not much is going to be done in free agency. There is one obvious player to keep an eye on in free agency for the Hawks though and that has to do with forward Saddiq Bey.

Bey is going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer and he had a solid season for the Hawks until he tore his ACL late in the season in a loss to the Pelicans. Bey's free agency is an underrated storyline for the Hawks this offseason and Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley says that if free agency started today, the Hawks would re-sign Bey.

"Atlanta's biggest offseason decision revolves around the future of its backcourt, but there's work to be done on the free-agent front, too. Namely, how to tackle Saddiq Bey's restricted free agency while managing a payroll that's already higher than the team's performance says it should be.

Because he's restricted, the Hawks have a bit of leverage on their side. They could always try waiting and letting someone else sign him to an offer sheet before deciding whether it's one they want to match. His market might be tempered by the ACL tear he suffered in March, potentially creating a scenario in which Atlanta saves a few dollars on his new deal.

There's always risk in letting someone else dictate contract terms, though, particularly with a player you're trying to keep. And Bey would seem to be exactly that, having snagged a starting spot in late November and never relinquishing it until his injury."

Bey was averaging 13.7 PPG and 6.5 RPG (a career-high) before he went down with his injury late in the year. The shooting numbers don't look great for him (41% Field goal percentage and 31.6% from three), but Bey would be a solid player to bring off the bench if Atlanta could afford to keep him. I think he is not the best fit as a starter due to his defense, which is not great alongside a player like Trae Young, but Bey can stretch the floor and is a good rebounder. If the price is right, Atlanta should look to bring Bey back. When he will be able to play is another question entirely.

Bey is not the only forward whose future is in question this offseason.

The difference between Bey and De'Andre Hunter is that Hunter is under contract. With the amount of reshuffling the Hawks might do this summer, could Hunter be a guy that gets traded?

Hunter is a player that a lot of people have different opinions on. He has been injured consistently throughout his career and has not become the two-way star that the Hawks hoped he would be when they trade up to the No. 4 spot to draft him in 2019. He was supposed to be a future cornerstone for the franchise alongside Trae Young, but has not quite lived up to that, with injuries being a main cause. That does not mean that Hunter is a bad player though.

Because of the Hawks poor roster construction since drafting Young, Hunter has had to be relied upon as the only above average wing defender with athleticism and size. While he might not be the best player on the Hawks, you could have made the argument that he was one of the most important players on the team, aside from Young. Hunter ws the only guy who could defend players such as Jayson Tatum or Luka Doncic and because he was injured quite often, the Hawks defense suffered whenever he was not on the court. He has also been an inconsistent offensive player in his career, though this was his best offensive season as a pro. Hunter set career highs in points per game and in three-point field goal percentage and a lot of it was while he was coming off the bench after he returned from his injury. He had a very disappointing game against the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Play-In Tournament, scoring eight points on 3-16 shooting in 42 minutes, but he improved in a lot of ways this season and should not be remembered for just that game.

While a lot of other storylines will shape the Hawks offseason, what they do with Bey and Hunter should also be monitored.