Hawks Rumors

Hawks Sign Jabari Parker To Two-Year Deal

JULY 11: The Hawks have officially signed Parker, the team confirmed today in a press release.

“Jabari is a highly skilled offensive player and proven scorer, and we’re looking forward to incorporating him into our group,” Hawks GM Travis Schlenk said in a statement. “We think he will fit well on the court and in the locker room, and we’re excited to welcome him to Atlanta.”

JULY 8: The Hawks and forward Jabari Parker have agreed to terms on a two-year contract, his agency Priority Sports announced today (via Twitter). According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), the two-year pact will be worth $13MM, with a second-year player option.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Parker averaged 20.1 PPG in 51 games with the Bucks in 2016/17. However, that season ended early due to a torn ACL and the 24-year-old hasn’t made the same impact since then for Milwaukee, Chicago, and Washington.

Last year, Parker signed a two-year, $40MM contract with the Bulls, which featured a second-year team option. He was traded to the Wizards in a deadline deal and averaged 14.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.4 APG on .493/.313/.712 shooting in 64 total games for the two teams. Washington turned down his 2019/20 option, allowing him to reach the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

It took Parker more than a week to find a new home, which made him a match for the Hawks, whose GM Travis Schlenk had stated this spring that the club would likely wait out the first wave of free agency to see who slipped through the cracks. Parker, the only unrestricted free agent still on the board from our top-50 list, fit that bill. He could become a starting forward in Atlanta, though he may slot in better as a second-unit scorer.

The Hawks were one of the few NBA teams with cap room still available, so no exception will be required to sign Parker. They still project to have about $6.2MM in space left after the signing, per Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Vince Carter, Hawks Reunion Is A "Long Shot"

  • The idea of the Hawks bringing back Vince Carter for another season remains a long shot, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. According to Vivlamore, Atlanta still may add a veteran to its roster, but doesn’t want to take minutes away from its young players, and Carter may be seeking a larger role.

Few NBA Teams Still Have Meaningful Cap Space

After a flurry of activity during the first 10 days of an especially active 2019 free agent period, only a small handful of teams around the NBA still have any meaningful cap room available.

According to Jeff Siegel’s data at Early Bird Rights and Bobby Marks’ numbers at ESPN, the Knicks, Mavericks, Hawks, Pacers, and Clippers are the only clubs that project to have more than $2MM in leftover cap space.

Here’s a look at those five teams that still project to have a bit more room remaining:


New York Knicks

The Knicks had seemingly exhausted nearly all their cap room based on their reported agreements with free agents. However, one of those deals – Reggie Bullock‘s two-year, $21MM pact – is no longer in place after an issue arose with Bullock’s physical. It sounds like the two sides still plan to work something out, but for now, the team has regained enough flexibility to reportedly offer Marcus Morris $15MM for one year.

The Knicks’ precise cap room projection will depend on how they structured all the deals they finalized earlier this week, but Marks lists them at $15.5MM for now. That space would go away if Morris reneges on his deal with the Spurs and heads to New York. If not, the Knicks will have more cap flexibility than any other team, at least until they reach a new deal with Bullock.


Dallas Mavericks

According to Siegel’s numbers (and my own math), the Mavericks can get up as high as about $14.61MM in cap room. However, there’s no guarantee that Dallas even intends to function as an over-the-cap team this offseason.

So far, the Mavs have acquired Delon Wright via sign-and-trade, agreed to deals with free agents Seth Curry and Boban Marjanovic, and come to terms on new contracts for three of their own players (Kristaps Porzingis, Maxi Kleber, and Dorian Finney-Smith). Only the Wright acquisition is official.

If the Mavs wanted to, they could use cap room to acquire Wright and sign Curry, retain the cap holds for their own free agents, and hold off on the Marjanovic signing — that would create $14.61MM in cap room. Once that room is used, Dallas could go over the cap to lock up Porzingis, Kleber, and Finney-Smith, and then sign Boban using the room exception.

However, Dallas has another potential path — stay over the cap by taking Wright’s contract into a preexisting $21MM+ trade exception created in February’s Harrison Barnes deal, sign Curry using the mid-level exception, sign Marjanovic using the bi-annual exception, and re-sign their own free agents using their Bird or Early Bird rights.

In that scenario, the Mavs would forfeit any potential cap room, but would retain about $12MM of that Barnes trade exception, which could be used at anytime up until February 7, 2020.

Trade exceptions aren’t as versatile as cap room, since they can’t be used to sign free agents outright. However, the trade exception’s shelf life would be longer. If Dallas doesn’t find a way to use cap room now, the team would lose it once it makes its agreements with Porzingis, Kleber, and Finney-Smith official. Those players’ cap holds only account for just over $20MM for now, but their combined first-year salaries are expected to total closer to $40MM.

My best guess is that the Mavs used the Barnes trade exception to acquire Wright, and are now actively exploring the free agent and trade markets to assess whether it makes more sense to dip below the cap or to remain above it.


Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks‘ situation is pretty simple. Once the signing of Jabari Parker is official, Atlanta will have a team salary in the $103-104MM range, giving the club between $5-6MM in cap room to work with. That figure come in at about $5.8MM if Parker’s deal has a standard 5% raise from year one to year two, per Siegel.

The Hawks could create up to $7.2MM in space if they waive Jaylen Adams‘ non-guaranteed contract. It’s not clear yet what their plans are for that remaining space though.


Indiana Pacers

The Pacers‘ projection will hinge on how they intend to sign T.J. McConnell. McConnell’s two-year, $7MM deal, which isn’t yet official, could be completed using the room exception. That would leave the Pacers with about $4.82MM in cap room available right now, which would need to be used before the team finalizes its agreements with McConnell and Edmond Sumner.

If the club simply finalizes those McConnell and Sumner contracts and eats up its remaining cap room, it would still have the full $4.77MM room exception at its disposal.


Los Angeles Clippers

Like the Mavericks, the Clippers have agreed to a series of deals that they’ve yet to make official. That’s probably because they’re trying to determine if they can do anything with their remaining space (up to approximately $3.59MM).

That projection accounts for cap holds for Patrick Beverley, Ivica Zubac, and Rodney McGruder, all of whom will be re-signed. It also takes into account Kawhi Leonard‘s maximum-salary contract, and Danilo Gallinari‘s and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s cap hits, since trading them for Paul George figures to be one of the last moves the Clippers make.

Our Clippers’ projection was at about $4.49MM before the team officially signed second-round pick Terance Mann on Tuesday, adding his cap hit to the books — we’re assuming that contract will start at the rookie minimum, but L.A. had the room to give him more.

Once the Clippers determine what they’ll do with their remaining cap space and officially use it up, they’ll be able to move forward on all those deals, including signing JaMychal Green using the room exception.

Free Agent Notes: Ellis, Green, Speights

Representatives from nearly half of the league’s teams were in attendance for a workout that included former NBA stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Monta Ellis, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.

The Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Knicks, Thunder, Bucks, Pistons, Kings, Nuggets, Blazers, Magic, Hawks, Wolves and Wizards were all in attendance. Haynes adds that 15 international teams from Europe and Asia also had representatives in Las Vegas for the workout.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Spurs, Nuggets, and Knicks were all interested in JaMychal Green before the forward re-signed with the Clippers, Jovan Buha of The Athletic writes. Those teams were offering him a more lucrative offer than the one he signed with Los Angeles. The Clippers put on a “full-court press” to retain Green, Buha adds, and the 29-year-old ended up inking a two-year deal worth slightly under $10MM.
  • Green has the ability to be a free agent next summer, having secured a player option as part of his deal with the Clippers. Buha (in the same piece) speculates that Green could have commanded a deal in the $10MM+ range this offseason and that the forward should have the opportunity for a similar contract next summer.
  • Mo Speights, who played in China last season, is working out for teams in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated tweets. Speights last played in the NBA for the Magic during the 2017/18 season.

Trae Young Expected To Join USA Basketball Select Team

  • According to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), Hawks guard Trae Young is expected to be among the players invited to join the USA Basketball Select Team, which will participate in training camp with the Team USA squad in Las Vegas next month prior to the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Parsons Goes Overseas For Knee Treatment

  • Chandler Parsons recently underwent a procedure in Germany to relieve his knee pain, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Parsons had another Regenokine treatment in which a person’s own tissue is collected, processed and then placed back into the body. The Hawks officially acquired the veteran forward from the Grizzlies on Sunday for Solomon Hill and Miles Plumlee.

Warriors Trade Jones, Second-Rounder To Hawks For Spellman

3:36pm: The trade is now official, according to press releases issued by both teams. The second-round pick going to Atlanta in the deal is the Warriors’ 2026 second-rounder.

1:49pm: The Warriors and Hawks have agreed to a trade that will send big man Omari Spellman to Golden State, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). According to Charania, Atlanta will receive center Damian Jones and a second-round pick in the swap.

Spellman, who will turn 22 later this month, was the 30th overall pick in the 2018 draft. He appeared in 46 games during his rookie season in Atlanta, averaging 5.9 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 46 games (17.5 MPG). The former Villanova standout also showed an ability to hit outside shots, making 1.0 three-pointer per game at a 34.4% rate.

As for Jones, he was the 30th overall pick two years earlier, in 2016, so he’ll be up for restricted free agency next summer. The 24-year-old opened the 2018/19 campaign as Golden State’s starting center, averaging 5.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 24 games (17.1 MPG), before a torn pectoral muscle sidelined him for the rest of the regular season.

The financial aspect of the deal is important for the Warriors, who are facing a $138.9MM hard cap. Spellman will earn about $1.9MM this season, while Jones is set to make $2.31MM. That difference may appear modest, but Golden State doesn’t have a whole lot of wiggle room, so the added flexibility will help the team fill out its roster.

Contract Details: Magic, Lakers, Pistons, Bulls, More

The free agency deals began a week ago, but the details of those arrangements are slowly trickling in as they become official. Let’s take a look at some contract notes from players around the league:

  • Nikola Vucevic’s four-year, $100MM deal with the Magic will decline by 8% annually, Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights tweets. Vucevic will make roughly $28.4MM in the first year of his front-loaded contract.
  • Terrence Ross‘ four-year, $52MM contract with the Magic will start at $12.5MM, per Siegel. Ross will make $13.5MM during the 2020/21 season, followed by $12.5MM and $11.5MM in the two ensuing years.
  • Al-Farouq Aminu will take home the full non-taxpayer’s mid-level on his deal with the Magic. He’ll make approximately $9.3MM during his first season and approximately $9.7MM and $10.2MM, respectively, over the ensuing two campaigns.
  • Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s two year deal with the Lakers is worth approximately $16.6MM in total value. KCP can make roughly $1.2MM in annual incentives on top of that amount, a source tells Siegel (Twitter link). The shooting guard has a player option on the second year of the pact, which also has a 15% trade bonus. Since his deal could be a one-year contract (if he chooses to turn down the player option), Caldwell-Pope has a default no-trade clause.
  • JaVale McGee also has a player option on the final year of his two-year deal with the Lakers, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets. McGee, who will make $8.2MM over the length of his contract, also has the ability to veto a trade.
  • Markieff Morris‘ two-year deal with the Pistons contains a second-year player option, Smith tweets. Morris was signed via the bi-annual exception.
  • Bruno Fernando‘s three-year deal with the Hawks is worth $4.7MM, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. It appears Atlanta will be using cap space to sign the rookie.
  • Tomas Satoransky final season of the three-year, $30MM deal with the Bulls is only guaranteed for $5MM, Fred Katz of The Athletic relays (Twitter link). Chicago brought the point guard to town via sign-and-trade.

Hawks Officially Sign De’Andre Hunter, Bruno Fernando

The Hawks have officially signed two of their rookies to their first NBA contracts, announcing today in a pair of press releases (links here) that they’ve finalized contracts with lottery-selection De’Andre Hunter and second-rounder Bruno Fernando.

Hunter, the No. 4 overall section in last month’s draft, was traded to Atlanta from New Orleans after being part of the trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers. Locked in to the NBA’s rookie scale, Hunter will make just under $7.07MM in his rookie season. Should he play out his full four-year rookie contract he’ll earn approximately $32.1MM.

The 21-year-old forward was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and All-ACC First Team en route to leading Virginia to the NCAA Championship last season. He averaged 15.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 32.5 minutes per game while shooting an impressive 43.8% from three-point range.

As for Fernando, the terms of his new contract are unclear. The Hawks still have a two-way contract slot open after coming to terms with fellow rookie Charlie Brown Jr.; however, it’s likely Fernando’s signing would have been reported as a two-way contract if he was taking the other spot beside Brown.

It’s more likely that the Hawks will use some of their substantial remaining cap space (about $14MM) to accommodate a three to four-year contract with the Maryland big man. A three-year pact at the minimum would see Fernando earn nearly $4.2MM. I anticipate the deal to be in that vicinity, with perhaps a higher first-year salary somewhere between $1MM to 1.5MM.

Free Agency Notes: Cap Holds, Williams, Magic, Wizards

Nearly half the teams in the NBA renounced their rights to multiple free agents this week as they prepared to make new roster moves official, per RealGM’s transactions log. In some cases, like when the Clippers renounced the rights to Garrett Temple and Wilson Chandler, those free agents already new homes lined up, and removing their cap holds was simply a formality to create cap room for incoming additions.

In other cases, the housekeeping moves were a bit more noteworthy. The Pacers, for instance, renounced Darren Collison‘s Bird rights, so if the 31-year-old – who announced his retirement before the start of free agency – ever attempts an NBA comeback, Indiana will no longer have a leg up to re-acquire him.

Besides those two teams, the Hawks, Bucks, Nets, Jazz, Sixers, Clippers, Pelicans, Lakers, Kings, Celtics, Wizards, and Bulls also renounced various free agents, according to RealGM’s log.

Here are a few more notes related to free agency:

  • The Lakers have withdrawn their qualifying offer to two-way player Johnathan Williams and renounced his rights, according to RealGM. That doesn’t preclude the Lakers from bringing back Williams on a new two-way deal, but he’ll be able to sign outright with a new team if he so chooses.
  • At least nine teams are now confirmed to attend the Amar’e Stoudemire/Monta Ellis workout taking place in Las Vegas on Monday, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. We previously relayed word of Stoudemire’s and Ellis’ attempts to make NBA comebacks.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides salary cap updates on a pair of Southeast teams, tweeting that the Magic and Wizards are both safely out of luxury tax territory for now. According to Marks (Twitter links), Orlando has $3.5MM in breathing room under the tax line, counting Khem Birch‘s $1.8MM cap hold, while Washington is about $4MM below that threshold after cutting Jonathon Simmons.