The Hawks have elected not to extend qualifying offers to DeAndre’ Bembry, Skal Labissiere, Damian Jones, or Charlie Brown Jr., according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter link). As a result, all four players will be unrestricted free agents rather than restricted.
The decisions don’t come as a major surprise. Bembry was the No. 21 pick in 2016 and has spent the last four seasons in Atlanta, but didn’t have a great year in 2019/20, averaging 5.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .456/.231/.542 shooting in 43 games (21.3 MPG). Labissiere was said to be someone who intrigued Atlanta when he was acquired at the trade deadline, but he was unable to suit up for the Hawks due to health issues.
Jones made 55 appearances for Atlanta in 2019/20 but was unlikely to have a regular role next season with Clint Capela healthy and Onyeka Okongwu joining the Hawks in the draft. Brown, meanwhile, saw limited action in 10 games for the Hawks while on a two-way contract.
While those four players appear unlikely to return to Atlanta, Kirschner says (via Twitter) that the team is expected to guarantee Brandon Goodwin‘s minimum salary for 2020/21. Goodwin would earn a $1.7MM salary before becoming eligible for restricted free agency himself in 2021.
I don’t see Charlie Brown taking it well that’s he is going to be out of work.
Good grief.
Prolly bring Skal back in the end. Mutual interest in both sides.
Glad to see us move on from Bembry.
Do the hawks have a plan??? Are they gonna pursue a guy that can be a third option or are they content to be in rebuild mode since Millsap left!