Atlanta Hawks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Waive Guard Isaiah Taylor

June 30th, 2018 at 9:42am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks have waived guard Isaiah Taylor, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.

The move saves Atlanta $300K, which Taylor would have received if he had remained on the roster through Saturday. His $1,544,951 salary for next season would have been fully guaranteed if he was still on the roster through July 27th.

The 6’3” point guard appeared in 67 games last season and averaged 6.6 PPG and 3.1 APG.

Atlanta acquired the rights of Oklahoma point guard Trae Young in a draft-night trade with the Mavericks. The Hawks also have last year’s starter, Dennis Schroder, on the roster though he’s been the subject of trade discussions.

Hawks Could Have Interest In Michael Beasley

June 29th, 2018 at 11:33am CST by Luke Adams

As for Beasley, while a return to the Knicks is possible, sources tell Berman that the Trail Blazers, Hawks, and Bucks are among the other teams that could have interest. The Warriors have also internally discussed the possibility of offering Beasley a minimum-salary deal, but it doesn’t look like they’ll do so, Berman adds.

[SOURCE LINK]

Trade Rumors: Clippers, Mavs, Richardson, Lakers

June 29th, 2018 at 7:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers aren’t overly interested in taking back Wesley Matthews in a trade sending DeAndre Jordan to the Mavericks, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter). Los Angeles’ reluctance to accept Matthews makes some sense — while his salary is a little more affordable than Jordan’s, his contract expires at the same time, and the veteran swingman doesn’t really fill a major need for the Clips.

In order to work out a deal with the Clippers, the Mavericks will have to come up with an alternative trade scenario for Jordan, Stein notes. However, if the two sides can’t reach an agreement, that doesn’t necessarily mean Dallas is out of the running for Jordan, since the standout center could always decline his player option and sign with the Mavs as a free agent. If Dallas can work out a trade for Jordan, the team could theoretically preserve a good chunk of its cap room for another signing.

Here are a few more trade-related rumors from around the NBA:

Several teams called the Heat to inquire about Josh Richardson during the draft, but Miami showed no interest in moving him, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe. If the Heat hope to re-sign Wayne Ellington or use their mid-level exception, they’ll almost certainly have to shed salary, but Richardson isn’t a player the club is willing to lose.
The Suns made Marquese Chriss available in trade talks on draft night, according to Lowe. The ESPN.com scribe adds that the Suns, who are in the market for a point guard this summer, have yet to show any interest in trading for Dennis Schroder of the Hawks.
Multiple sources tell Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post that the Lakers and Nuggets have discussed a trade that would send unwanted salary and a draft pick to Los Angeles. Reports earlier this week indicated that the Lakers were exploring ways to acquire another first-round pick to sweeten a potential offer for Kawhi Leonard.
In a piece for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks examines some of the more intriguing expiring contracts and trade chips around the NBA.

Lowe’s Latest: James, Thunder, RFAs

June 28th, 2018 at 7:56pm CST by Austin Kent

The Lakers may not necessarily need a star in place to lure LeBron James, Zach Lowe of ESPN writes in a massive round-up of free agency notes. If James were to sign in Los Angeles alongside the team’s existing young stars and plethora of cap space they’d immediately become one of the league’s most appealing destinations for the next 12 months.

The comment comes in response to the notion that the Lakers are growing desperate to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs prior to James’ opt-in deadline tomorrow at 10:59pm CST. As things stand, both the Celtics and Sixers appear poised to offer better packages than what Lowe speculates L.A. might.

The King’s decision will have a ripple effect on the rest of the league, especially the Eastern Conference. If the Raptors, for example, were to watch James head to the West, it would make keeping their current core in place more appealing considering that their path to the Finals would be hypothetically easier.

Here’s a taste of the rest of Lowe’s findings:

If the Thunder can convince Paul George to return to Oklahoma City, it will be a monumental victory for general manager Sam Presti. If he leaves, the club would be forced to at least think about blowing the current squad up and trading Russell Westbrook.
Only six teams have notable amounts of potential cap space and half of those – the Hawks, Bulls and Kings – are telling teams that they’re interested in using that space to absorb bad contracts and pick up assets.
It’s unclear that there will be much of a market for Derrick Favors beyond, potentially the Mavs. It may make more sense for the big man to stay with the Jazz after finally starting to click alongside Rudy Gobert in Quin Snyder‘s offense last season.
The two best candidates to sign a qualifying offer this summer and approach next summer as unrestricted free agents are Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic. Lowe writes that Nurkic turned down a “rich” four-year extension last fall but might have a hard time finding a team willing to offer more than the mid-level exception this summer.
It stands to reason that Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker will yield significant offers from the Magic, Bulls and Bucks respectively but none of those teams have reason to offer a max contract right away.
The Pacers could make life harder for the Magic by putting together an offer in the $20MM range for Gordon. Lowe writes that there has been “mild discontent for years” about Gordon’s role in Orlando’s offense.
The Nuggets tried “feverishly” to trade for a second first-round pick last Thursday in the hopes of nabbing Zhaire Smith. Denver’s 2019 first-rounder was on the table in those talks.

For more free agency notes, including some potential contract extension candidates and the reasoning behind Nikola Jokic not getting a player option in the fifth year of his new deal with the Nuggets, check out the full feature at ESPN.

Hawks’ Delaney, Lee, Magette To Become UFAs

June 27th, 2018 at 2:23pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks won’t tender qualifying offers to Malcolm Delaney, Damion Lee, or Josh Magette, meaning all three players will become unrestricted free agents, tweets Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Michael Scotto of The Athletic first reported the team’s decisions on Delaney and Magette (Twitter links).

Delaney and Lee had been on standard NBA contracts in Atlanta, so their qualifying offers would have been worth $3.125MM and approximately $1.54MM respectively. Instead, they’ll reach the open market and will be free to sign outright with any team.

Delaney, 29, has served as a backup point guard for the Hawks over the last two seasons. In 54 games in 2017/18, he averaged 6.3 PPG and 3.0 APG with a .382/.371/.804 shooting line. Lee, meanwhile, joined the roster late in the season and played well, averaging 10.7 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 15 games (11 starts).

As for Magette, he was one of two Hawks players on a two-way contract last season, splitting his time between Atlanta and Erie. While he averaged a double-double (15.1 PPG, 10.1 APG) in 36 games for the G League’s BayHawks, he struggled with his shot (.374 FG%, .300 3PT%).

Hawks To Be Cautious In Free Agent Market

June 26th, 2018 at 9:56am CST by Arthur Hill

With about $20MM in available cap space, the Hawks are in position to be aggressive on the free agent market, but that’s not the path GM Travis Schlenk plans to pursue, relays Charles Odum of The Associated Press. Speaking at Monday’s press conference to introduce the team’s draft picks, Schlenk said the Hawks will take a wait-and-see approach when free agency kicks off Sunday.

The Hawks‘ need for frontline help has diminished with Dewayne Dedmon and Mike Muscala both opting in for another season. Guards Malcolm Delaney and Damion Lee will be restricted free agents if they receive qualifying offers worth $3.125MM and $1.538MM, respectively.

Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder claimed to be taken out of context in comments at a German press conference that made it sound like he wanted to be traded, Odum adds in the same story. Schlenk said he discussed the situation with Schroder, who claimed the news source just used “snippets” of his answer. New coach Lloyd Pierce is confident that Schroder is committed to the Hawks’ plans to rebuild, and he will remain with the team and share time with first-round pick Trae Young.

Hawks’ Mike Muscala Exercises Option

June 24th, 2018 at 12:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mike Muscala has picked up his $5MM option and will return to the Hawks next season, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The fifth-year center/power forward is coming off a career-best year, averaging 7.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 53 games. An ankle injury limited his availability for the first two months of the season, but he played well once he recovered. Muscala, who turns 27 next week, was the 44th pick in the 2013 draft and has remained in Atlanta ever since.

Muscala follows teammate Dewayne Dedmon, who exercised his $7.2MM option on Wednesday. Their decisions leave the Hawks with about $20MM in cap space heading into free agency, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who adds that Atlanta could be a popular spot for teams willing to give up draft picks to unload unwanted contracts (Twitter link).

As our list of player option decisions shows, Muscala becomes the 16th NBA veteran to exercise a 2018/19 option this offseason, after just five vets picked up player options last summer.

Hawks Discussed Draft Night Trade With Bucks

June 24th, 2018 at 11:43am CST by Arthur Hill

The Bucks contemplated a pair of draft night trades before selecting Donte DiVincenzo at No. 17, reports Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated. They talked about swapping picks with the Pacers and moving down to No. 23, and discussed a deal with the Hawks involving the 19th and 30th selections. Atlanta, which planned to take Kevin Huerter with the 17th pick, ended negotiations when word that the Bucks were drafting DiVincenzo leaked on Twitter. The Hawks expected the Spurs to grab Lonnie Walker at No. 18 and were confident that Huerter would fall to them at No. 19. DiVincenzo was happy to wind up in Milwaukee, which he and his representatives had singled out as a preferred destination.

Taylor's Contract Guarantee Pushed Back

June 22nd, 2018 at 8:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks have pushed back the date of Isaiah Taylor‘s partial guarantee from Friday until the end of the month, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Taylor would receive a $300K guarantee by remaining on the roster through the due date. The remainder of his $1,544,951 salary for next season would become guaranteed if he’s on the roster through July 27th. The 6’3” point guard appeared in 67 games last season and averaged 6.6 PPG and 3.1 APG.
The Hawks dealt their early second-round pick at No. 34 because the players they liked in that spot were guards and they already got two backcourt players in the first round, Cunningham reports in a separate tweet. The Hawks secured two future second-rounders in their deal with the Hornets. In the first round, Atlanta wound up with point guard Trae Young after dropping down two spots from the No. 3 slot and chose shooting guard Kevin Huerter at No. 19.

Timberwolves Spoke To Hawks About Draft Trade

June 22nd, 2018 at 1:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves were active on the phones throughout the draft considering potential trades, but ultimately decided that keeping the 20th and 48th picks was their best option, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Minnesota had spoken to the Pacers, Trail Blazers, and Hawks about moving down from No. 20, but with a run on wings happening, didn’t want to risk losing out on a player like Okogie, Krawczynski notes.