The Atlanta Hawks Should Make A Run At Signing This 2026 NBA Champion In Free Agency

Atlanta has a lot of salary cap space in order to make some smart offseason additions - it would make sense if they target a player from the current NBA champions.

Apr 30, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga (0) is defended by New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) in the second quarter during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It may seem premature to discuss the idea of pulling a player away from the Knicks the day after they won the NBA Championship. New York was dominant in the postseason, posting a 16-3 record. While the Hawks gave them more trouble than any other team, including the Spurs, they still only took two games off the Knicks and ultimately got crushed in Game 6.

However, the NBA calendar waits for no one and teams can officially start to negotiate with their own free agents. New York is likely going to be focused on keeping Mitchell Robinson on a reasonable contract and then signing depth pieces like Landry Shamet and Ariel Hukporti. Even so, they won't be able to keep everyone. New York is already only $5.2 million under the first apron and they have nine players under contract. Some tough decisions are going to be made.

One player who the Hawks should try to entice away from the Knicks is Jose Alvarado. The former Pelican made a big impression after being traded to New York at the deadline. Even though he turned in some big performances in the playoffs, it may not be enough to keep Alvarado in New York. He showed that his $4.5 million salary is a bargain and he has a player option for the 2026-27 season. If he declines it, the Hawks should be one of the team that makes an aggresive push for him.

Alvarado Back In Atlanta

Apr 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum (3) controls the ball against New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) during the second quarter of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Although he is originally from New York, Alvarado has strong ties to Atlanta as well. He was a four-year player at Georgia Tech and got better every single year of his career. Alvarado was a critical part of the 2021 ACC title team and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year during one of the best seasons that Georgia Tech basketball has seen in a long time.

While this may seem tangential at best, players value familiar environments in free agency and Atlanta will have an advantage over every team except for New York in that respect. The idea of returning back to the city where he developed into an NBA-caliber guard might be appealing for a player that clearly enjoyed playing for his hometown team.

Hawks Need Half Court Help

Apr 25, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) is defended by Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the first half during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

One of the biggest weakness of the Hawks last season is that their halfcourt offense wasn't good enough in the playoffs. Outside of a heater from McCollum, there weren't enough players who could dribble, pass and shoot on Atlanta's roster.

In the 412 minutes he played for the Knicks in the regular season, the Knicks had an excellent offensive rating of 121.1 and defensive rating of 112.7. That held up in the playoffs where they had an offensive rating of 122.1 with him on the court. While not all of those minutes were him operating the offense in halfcourt situations, there are two compelling pieces of data that suggest he can be a contributor towards a better halfcourt offense for Atlanta.

If his stats were extrapolated to a per-75 minutes basis, Alvarado would average 3.2 rim assists per game (85th percentile among guards). That supports the idea that he can feed bigs at the rim when they're cutting to the basket, which is an important part of exploiting a set defense. The Hawks really haven't had a rotation guard who can do that. None of Dyson Daniels, CJ McCollum or Nickeil Alexander-Walker matched or exceeded the number of rim assists per 75 minutes that Alvarado had.

In addition, he's not a high turnover player when he's asked to create for himself. Alvarado posted a creation TOV% of 9.3% in the regular season, which doesn't seem very impressive. Relative to his offensive load and position, this means Alvarado was pretty much average at not turning the ball over (58th percentile). However, that's better than both Jalen Johnson (9.9%) and Dyson Daniels (9.4%). That turnover rate essentially held true in the playoffs while Daniels' jumped up to 12.1%. It's a good sign that Alvarado is a pretty reliable ball handler regardless of the situation. There might be increases in the raw turnover numbers if the Hawks gave him a bigger role, but he hasn't shown a proclivity for turnovers in the minutes that he's gotten.

Defensive Duo With Dyson

Apr 25, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) dribbles guarded by Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the second half during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Alvarado might not be big enough to be a full-time starter for an NBA team. At 6'0 and 179 lbs, there's a reason why he's never played over 70 games in a season. However, that doesn't mean he's a defensive liability like other guards of his size.

From 2024-2026, Alvarado has held players like Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Darius Garland and Stephon Castle under 15 points and a TS% of 50% per 75 minutes while guarding them on 40+ possessions. In the playoffs, he did his best work guarding De'Aaron Fox, but made a huge difference in several other matchups. He held the Spurs point guard to just 4.1 points on a TS% of 17% in the 37 possessions he guarded him. However, he also completely blanked VJ Edgecombe and held one of the best rookies in the NBA to zero points on 21 possessions.

Speaking of the playoffs, the Knicks had an elite defensive rating of 94.2 when he was on the court. It was just 146 minutes, but Alvarado's defense in the playoffs was excellent and he showed that he cannot be exploited on defense at the higher levels of the game. Alvarado also turns opponents over - he posted 4.1 deflections per 75 minutes (84th percentile) in the regular season and had a respectable STL% of 1.8% last season (79th percentile).

Putting him next to Dyson Daniels would be a really fun problem for opponents to deal with. Although they are vastly different sizes, both of them are tenacious defenders and neither can be hunted. Alvarado also brings some of the spacing that Dyson does not. Nearly 64% of his shots came from deep last season and he made a respectable 35.2% of them. He's a legitimate shooting threat in a way that Dyson is not and that will create more space for the offense to operate.

Quite simply, adding Alvarado gives the Hawks an edge that they didn't have last season. He ranks in the 88th percentile for AST EFG% - teammates made their shots 78% of the time when Alvarado passed it to them. He sets his team up for success and fights over screens, guards players who tower over him and goes after rebounds with a tenacity that bleeds into the team. Those are the type of players that are becoming harder to find in the NBA. Even though he may never be an All-Star, the Hawks need more players who positively contribute to the culture and Alvarado fits that to a T.

The Hawks shouldn't necessarily throw a bag at him, but they should definitely at least offer him the bi-annual exception of $5.5 million per year over the next two seasons. I'd argue that they'd need to offer part of the mid-level exception, which is what they used to sign Nickeil Alexander-Walker last summer, if they really wanted to get him. Still, the Hawks should be in on luring Alvarado away from their rival and getting him back to Atlanta.