Three Things We Have Learned About The Atlanta Hawks This Offseason

The offseason might not be completely done just yet (looking at you, Peyton Watson, Jalen Duren, and Jonathan Kuminga), but things have slowed down significantly over the past couple of weeks, aside from LeBron James choosing to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Atlanta Hawks might not get a lot of attention for the moves they have made, but they have been one of the most active teams when it comes to acquisitions and they have added quality depth to their team and they hope that is going to keep them in the playoff hunt.

So what have we learned about this team over the course of the offseason?

1. Hawks are being patient

You should never take what a front office tells you at face value, but in the case of the Atlanta Hawks, they telegraphed what they were going to do this offseason and they stuck to it.

Atlanta's President of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh said that this team was not one move away and that they were not going to be skipping steps in building their team. It would have been easy to look at the Hawks 20-6 record after the All-Star Break and the fact that they were the only team to beat the Knicks multiple times in a playoff series (and only team that had New York trailing in a series at all) and said that the Hawks should make a big move.

Despite being connected to Jaylen Brown and some other stars, Atlanta (barring something unexpected) is not going to be making a blockbuster move this offseason, but they have set themselves up if there were a star available during the season or to have lots of cap space next summer.

Atlanta has young talent, and they have addressed their depth this offseason and still could find themselves in the top six, but the Eastern Conference has gotten better around them, and nothing is coming easy.

2. Atlanta has the flexibility to make a big move in-season or next summer

Atlanta has been patient this offseason and made some opportunistic moves that cost them very little, such as trading for Aaron Wiggins and Luguentz Dort.

If you take a closer look though, the Hawks might be setting themselves up to make a major move, if the opportunity presents itself.

Right now, the Hawks have CJ McCollum ($21 million), Dort ($17 million), Jock Landale ($14 million), Buddy Hield ($9.6 million), Mouhamed Gueye ($2.4 million), Ryan Nembhard ($2.1 million), and potentially Devin Carter ($5.1 million) in expiring contracts. They could get up to any salary that could be available, as well as having draft picks to trade.

That does not mean Atlanta is going to make a move, as star players getting moved during the season is rare, but they could also opt to let those contracts expire and have lots of cap space next offseason. Atlanta could use that cap space to sign free agents to their team or make a trade.

Saleh preaches optionality and flexibility and the Hawks have loads of it heading into the season.

3. This team is deeper

After the All-Star break, Atlanta's starting five of McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu was one of the NBA's best starting units. Their problem was the bench, which the Knicks exposed in a big way in the playoffs.

Atlanta made it an objective to become a deeper team and I think they have achieved that. Wiggins and Dort are proven players who will be at the top of the Hawks rotation, Landale is back to be backup center, and the Hawks drafted Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor, with Flemings expected to to compete for the backup point guard role.

That is not even mentioning Gueye, second year forward Asa Newell, Carter, and Nembhard. If the Hawks bring back Jonathan Kuminga, that would only improve the depth.

If the starting five remains as good as it was towards the end of the season, this depth should be much better.

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