Remaining NBA Offseason Dominos That Could Affect the Atlanta Hawks

The NBA offseason has slowed to a halt in the month of August and not much is expected to change between now and training camp.

The Atlanta Hawks have not been as active this offseason as a lot of their Eastern Conference foes, instead opting for a different approach by retaining some key members of last season's team, drafting three rookies, and making some smaller-type trades to improve their depth.

While there does not seem to be a lot out there that can affect teams at this stage of the offseason, there are a couple of things to continue to monitor before training camp begins.

Jonathan Kuminga

If Jonathan Kuminga were to sign for less than his current asking price, it would not affect the Hawks all that much since they have already made moves to replace him on the roster with trades for Aaron Wiggins and Luguentz Dort.

But there is a chance this ends with Kuminga going to his preferred destination via sign-and-trade, and that would affect the Hawks, even if the sign-and-trade is nothing major and does not land the Hawks a high-level rotation player.

The Lakers, Timberwolves, Clippers, Bucks, and Cavaliers have been mentioned as the suitors for Kuminga, but there has not been any new reporting or insight into what might happen with this situation. Los Angeles and Cleveland were thought to be the favorites to land Kuminga and after the Cavaliers moved Dennis Schroder to Charlotte, it freed up some money and could give them an edge when it comes to what they can offer.

Of anything that can affect the Hawks the rest of the offseason, this is by far the biggest because of the potential it has for Atlanta to add assets and make roster maneuvers.

Roster crunch

This is specifically Hawks related, but Atlanta has to cut down their roster to 15 by the time the regular season begins.

Right now, Atlanta's roster sits at 17 and there is no easy answer as to what the Hawks can do to get down to 15. In all likelihood, two of Corey Kispert, Buddy Hield, Ryan Nembhard, Devin Carter, and Mouhamed Gueye will be gone from the roster, but all of those players come with challenges.

Kispert is on an undesirable contract right now and Atlanta may have to attach picks to move him, which is something they don't love doing. Hield is on a de facto expiring contract, but does anyone want to pay Hield nearly $10 million this season after he couldn't get in the Hawks regular rotation?

Carter cannot be traded until Aug. 30th and Nembhard cannot be traded until Sept. 19th. Both players are on lower salaries and Atlanta might want to keep them on the roster and get a look at them to see if they can be a rotation player for their team.

Gueye is the toughest one. It would have been foolish to include him on this, but his foot injury is going to potentially keep out until November or beyond, causing him to miss training camp and the preseason. Atlanta has drafted Asa Newell and Zuby Ejiofor over the past two drafts and Gueye's deal is non-guaranteed. He could be traded for assets or waived.

At the end of the day, there are not a lot of things that are going to affect Atlanta before training camp opens in late September, but keep a close eye on what happens with Kuminga and the corresponding roster moves Atlanta has to make to cut down their roster to 15.

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