Three Big Names Atlanta Could Pursue This Summer If They Decide Not to Bring Back CJ McCollum and Jonathan Kuminga

The keyword for the Atlanta Hawks this summer is optionality. It is a favorite word of general manager Onsi Saleh and he has worked to improve this roster while keeping the options open for how the team can continue to add to it.

Atlanta is coming off of a strong finish to the season and they can say they were the only team to beat the New York Knicks in a playoff series so far. They seem to be heading in the right direction, but what can they do to take that next step as a team?

One avenue for the Hawks to pursue is to create as much space as possible this offseason by not bringing back CJ McCollum and declining the $24.3 million team option on Jonathan Kuminga, as well as waiving Buddy Hield before his contract becomes fully guaranteed. If the Hawks do that, they will have eight players making $122,110,435 heading into the offseason, and the salary cap is set at $165 million this season. Atlanta would have more than enough space to go out and add a big-time player to its roster.

But what player would that be? Here are three options that make plenty of sense.

1. Lakers guard Austin Reaves

There have already been whispers of the Hawks being interested in signing Reaves away from the Lakers and to do that, they would have to decline the option on Kuminga and not bring back McCollum (who Reaves would be replacing anyway).

Reaves is the kind of shotmaker and halfcourt scoring option that the Hawks really need, but it would cost a max or a near max contract offer for the Hawks to pull him away from Los Angeles.

While Reaves is going to be an unrestricted free agent, can Atlanta really persuade him to leave the Lakers and Luka Doncic to join the Hawks? They would have to sell him on being a 1A or 1B option alongside Jalen Johnson and that there is a more clear path to contending in the Eastern Conference than having to go through the Spurs or the Thunder in the Western Conference.

The fit would be a great one, but convincing Reaves to leave Los Angeles would be a massive task and one I am not sure the Hawks could pull off.

2. Thunder Center Isaiah Hartenstein

Hartenstein comes with a big asterisk, as he is not an unrestricted free agent like Reaves is set to be. The Thunder have a $30 million option for next season and they could either pick it up or decline it to work out a new extension.

Why would Oklahoma City decline his option? Well, they are in a roster and money crunch for next season. OKC has three draft picks to make in this year's draft and no roster spots for them, not to mention the max extensions for Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are set to kick in. This team is going to get very expensive quickly and declining Hartenstein's option would be one way that this team could save money.

If he becomes available, he should be without a doubt the top target for the Hawks this season, even more so than Reaves. Hartenstein is an elite defender, great passer, and strong rebounder. He would be the perfect complement to Onyeka Okongwu and make the Hawks a very interesting threat in the Eastern Conference.

3. Utah Center Walker Kessler

Like Hartenstein, Kessler comes with an asterisk. He does not have a team option, but is a restricted free agent, giving Utah the right to match any offer sheet that Kessler is given. Could the Hawks make a large enough offer to scare Utah away? Maybe, but given how injury prone Kessler has been in his career, that would not be a wise roster move for the future.

I think it would take a truly large sum of money for Utah not to match for Kessler given that they just traded for Jaren Jackson Jr and those two would seemingly be a great pairing together.

Kessler should be on the Hawks radar though because of his ability to rebound and protect the rim. He would be a great addition to the team if the could pull him away, but I don't think that is likely.

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