The Atlanta Hawks Have Positioned Themselves To Be A Contender For the Next Star Player Available

You might not know it, but the Atlanta Hawks have positioned themselves well for when the next star player becomes available.

Over the course of this offseason, the Hawks have made a string of one-year contract agreements that not only made their team better ahead of the 2026-2027 season but also gave them the kind of flexibility and optionality to go chasing a star player should one become available either during the season or next offseason. With CJ McCollum ($21 million), Jock Landale ($14 million), Luguentz Dort ($17 million), Mouhamed Gueye ($2.4 million), Ryan Nembhard ($2.1 million), and possibly Devin Carter ($5.1 million if next year's team option is declined), Atlanta can get up to any salary number for whoever were to become available.

Atlanta could opt to just keep these players for the season and open up a large amount of cap space next offseason. That is the more unconventional route, since most star players elect to re-sign with their own teams for more money and if they wish to be traded, they ask to be traded.

But there are a number of players who could be free agents next offseason as of right now and you never know who could be available via trade.

In a recent report, NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that multiple rival executives have noted that the Hawks could be planning to do just that:

"Something else in Atlanta that we need to track:

Multiple rival team executives have noted this week that the Hawks, after adding Dort, are flush with the sort of mid-tier salaries that could be easily packaged with draft capital to make a run at a star who becomes available via trade.

Maybe that happens between now and the February trade deadline. Or maybe it's a matter for next summer, when the Hawks are projected to boast more than $40 million in cap space."

Looking ahead

Here are the list of players who could become unrestricted free agents next offseason:

Stephen Curry
Anthony Davis (Player Option)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Player Option)
Jimmy Butler
Nikola Jokic (Player Option)
Karl-Anthony Towns (Player Option)
Paul George (Player Option)
Kawhi Leonard
Kevin Durant (Player Option)
Zach LaVine
Brandon Ingram (Player Option)
Kyrie Irving (Player Option)
Rudy Gobert (Player Option)
Tyler Herro
Cason Wallace (Restricted Free Agent)

Now, what are the odds that any of these players actually hit free agency? Pretty small.

It is tough to predict that any of those players would actually decline their player options or decide not to extend this offseason and enter free agency next summer. This is by far the riskiest route for the Hawks, but it is the path where they would not have to give up any draft capital or any of their core of Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, or Onyeka Okongwu.

The trade option is also blurry because there is not an obvious player who could become available now that Giannis Antetokounmpo has been moved, but things change quickly in the NBA.

I would speculate that the Hawks' dream scenario is that Anthony Edwards becomes available at some point, though that is not likely to happen during the season. Edwards is a Top 10 player in the league and is from Atlanta, leading to speculation that Atlanta would try to bring him home at some point if he were to ever ask out.

There has been speculation around Jokic, since he has not signed his max extension with the team, but he has said on multiple occasions that he wants to be a Nugget for life and is waiting to sign his extension. Could that change if Denver has another early playoff exit and can't make any moves to upgrade the roster?

Who becomes available and who the Hawks are angling for (if any specific player) is not clear, but Onsi Saleh has this team ready to strike when the opportunity presents itself.

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