SEPTEMBER 22: The deal became official on Tuesday, per RealGM’s transactions log.
SEPTEMBER 16: Former No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor is signing with the Hawks, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (via twitter). The contract will be non-guaranteed.
In a follow-up tweet, Hawks beat reporter Chris Kirschner of The Athletic notes that Okafor and recently-signed Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who is also on a non-guaranteed deal, are the most likely candidates to claim the 15th and final spot on the team’s regular season roster.
The team currently has 14 players on guaranteed contracts and 19 players signed to its training camp roster, so Okafor will be their 20th man on the roster, with no corresponding moves necessary to add him.
It’s worth noting that the Hawks could have claimed Okafor off waivers when he was released by the Nets last week, but doing so would have meant taking on a guaranteed minimum contract for the upcoming season. Waiting until he cleared waivers gave them the opportunity to sign him to a non-guaranteed deal, granting the team more flexibility with their roster.
Okafor has bounced around the league in recent years and struggled to break Detroit’s big man rotation last season before being traded to Brooklyn in the offseason. However, he does hold career averages of 10.4 PPG and 4.7 RPG in just 19.5 MPG, so he’s capable of packing an offensive punch when given the opportunity.
LOVE this move. Jah has great hands, great scoring touch around the basket & is extremely strong. If he shows enough as a defender/rebounder in camp (big if), then I can definitely see him making the team & maybe even taking Dieng’s spot in the rotation.
You can do a lot worse as far as depth guys who don’t see any minutes unless there’s an injury
I feel like the Hawks are the deepest team in the league straight up. Denver, Boston & G-State all extremely deep as well but 1-18 nobody is seeing ATL rn, especially as far as young talent
He’s a bum. Hands of stone.
If Jahlil Okafor is a bum what does that make you?
An ojdity?
I think ball-watching is Jah’s most confounding problem. Of course he has others.
Another Blue Devil NBA “star”…
With Okafor & TLC, if the Hawks are so hot for former Sixers then they need to make an offer for Ben. Reddish, Huerter, Gallo & a few FRPs should do it.
Hawks won’t even take the time to laugh before they hang up.
Ben Simmons & the rights to Charles Bassey for DeAndre Hunter, Onyeka Okongwu, Danilo Gallinari & a 1st rd pick swap in 2023 or 2024 should do it
Simmons next to trae is a terrible fit.
Trae is best off with shooters around him
Trae is a shooter himself. Why would it be necessary to surround him with shooters? His only weaknesses are his lack of size/strength which make him a weak defender. Seems obvious that surrounding him with great defenders makes more sense than surrounding him with shooters. That being said we’d still have plenty of shooters. Ben & Trae are a perfect fit tho. Ben is 1 of the best passers & 1 of the best ballhandling forwards in the game. He would be able to free up Trae as a scorer in ways we haven’t seen before. Ben, as a non shooter, is the guy that should be surrounded by shooters & that’s exactly what would be the case if he gets traded here. Trae, Cam, Bogdan, Kev & John are all very good shooters that would be even better shooters with Ben as their teammate. And if the Hawks could put Cam, Ben, John & Clint next to Trae in the starting 5 that would be an extremely imposing defensive lineup as well
Almost all players are best off with shooters around them, but it makes way more sense if you said that about Simmons instead of Trae (perhaps that’s what you meant). Spacing is so important.
Dewayne Dedmon is a much much better shooter than Clint Capela. Yet Trae & the Hawks were much much better with Clint than they were with Dedmon. Why? Bc defense & rebounding are also extremely important. Ben obv isn’t a shooter but he’s arguably the best defensive basketball player in the world as well as being a great passer, rebounder & overall player. I love Dre & would hate to lose him but Ben is simply a better basketball player & would pretty clearly make us a better team
Young with Simmons in his backcourt would be a nightmare for opposing defenses. Imagine young and Simmons on the break. OUCH !
Imagine Ben & Clint running picknroll w Trae, Bogdan & John spacing the floor. They’d be pretty dangerous in every way tbh
I actually imagine Trae being the primary ball handler , while Ben pretends to space the floor
A frontcourt of Ben/John/Clint would rival LO/Pay/Bynum as 1 of the best frontcourts of this century. Who’s outrebounding Ben/John/Clint in this league?
You’d have 3 All-defense type guys with Cam, Ben & Clint. And don’t look now but here comes a 4th in Jalen Johnson
Just a reminder that this guy was once as highly anticipated as Evan Mobley, perhaps even more so.
Really need a mute button on the app. Can’t read a single Hawks thread anymore.
It’s red, about here^, three lines up
He’s feet of stone hands of lead he’s a bum.