Atlanta Hawks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

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.

Hawks Notes: Trade Talks, Young, Doncic, Schroder

June 22nd, 2018 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

While leaks to the media often make it harder for Travis Schlenk to do his job, the Hawks‘ general manager was appreciative of a particular leak on Thursday night, he said during an appearance on 95.7 The Game in the Bay Area (link via ESPN.com). According to Schlenk, the Hawks were considering a deal to move up two spots from No. 19 last night, but when word broke of the Bucks‘ plans at No. 17, Schlenk decided it against it.

“We had the 19th pick and we’re coming down and we’re actually talking to Milwaukee on the 17th pick, talking about trading up to get a guy we like,” Schlenk explained. “There were a couple of guys we felt really good about on the 19th pick, obviously Kevin [Huerter] was one of them, and it leaked who Milwaukee was going to take.

“So, all of a sudden, we were able to pull back out of that deal and keep the draft pick instead of packaging picks to move up because we knew that [there were] two guys on the board we felt really good about, and only one team in between us,” Schlenk continued. “So that was beneficial to us last night.”

Schlenk’s comments suggest that the Hawks were zeroing in on two players with that mid-first-round pick, and Donte DiVincenzo – who was selected by Milwaukee at No. 17 – wasn’t one of them.

Here’s more from Schlenk on the Hawks:

Discussing the trade that saw the Hawks move down to select Trae Young instead of simply drafting Luka Doncic, Schlenk said the front office was “really, really split” between the two guards (Twitter link via Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal Constitution). Given how close the two prospects were in Atlanta’s view, it made sense for the club to take Young and get an extra 2019 first-round pick out of the deal.
According to Schlenk, the Hawks had both Doncic and Young rated higher on their board than the top big men available at No. 3. The GM added that he has a “personal preference” for play-makers over bigs (Twitter link via Cunningham).
Asked about Young’s fit in Atlanta with Dennis Schroder already on the roster, Schlenk said that the two players are capable of playing together. However, as Cunningham notes, it’s not as if the Hawks GM will come out and say he wants to move Schroder. The team has been exploring possible trades involving the veteran point guard, but interest has been “tepid,” Cunningham adds (Twitter links).

Hawks To Trade Pick No. 34 To Charlotte

June 21st, 2018 at 9:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Hawks have agreed to trade the 34th pick to the Hornets, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Charlotte used the pick on Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham.

The 23-year-old point guard spent four years with the Jayhawks and was named Big 12 Player of the Year as a senior. He averaged 17.3 points and 7.2 assists in leading Kansas to the conference title.

The Hornets need to find depth at point guard with back-up Michael Carter-Williams headed for free agency.

Atlanta will receive a pair of future second-rounders in return. They are due in 2019 and 2023, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.

Mavs Acquire No. 3 Pick, Draft Luka Doncic

June 21st, 2018 at 9:21pm CST by Luke Adams

9:21pm: Marc Stein of The New York Times has the protection details on the 2019 first-round pick going to Atlanta in the deal. According to Stein (via Twitter), it will be top-five protected in 2019 and 2020, top-three protected in 2021 and 2022, and fully unprotected in 2023.

6:47pm: The Mavericks and Hawks agreed to a blockbuster trade involving the No. 3 pick that allowed Dallas to draft Luka Doncic.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the Hawks will acquire a 2019 first-round pick in the trade, while Atlanta took Trae Young at No. 5. No veteran players are involved in the deal, Woj adds (via Twitter).

Previous versions of the trade had Kent Bazemore going to Dallas and Wesley Matthews to Atlanta, but the Hawks were reluctant to add Matthews to a young, rebuilding team. They opted for a simple swap of picks, with some light protections on the future first-rounder. Atlanta had been hoping to free up some cap room by finding a taker for Bazemore, who is owed more than $18MM next season and has a player option worth nearly $19.3MM in 2019/20.

The teams were close to a trade around 5:00pm ET, tweets ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, but fell apart until the Mavs agree to include the future pick. The pick is scheduled to transfer next season, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports and will be top-five protected (Twitter link).

A source from the Mavericks, who described the protections as minimal to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, said, “We hope it conveys next year.” (Twitter link).

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Mavs’ Pursuit Of No. 3 Pick Losing Momentum?

June 21st, 2018 at 6:11pm CST by Luke Adams

6:11pm: There’s a sense around the NBA that talks between the Mavs and Hawks have stalled, but aren’t dead, as there’s some incentive for both sides to get something done, tweets Jeremy Woo of SI.com.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter) that the Hawks asked for at least one future draft pick from Dallas in addition to the package noted below by Marc Stein, while Stein adds (via Twitter) that Atlanta was asking for an unprotected first-rounder.

5:59pm: While the Mavericks reportedly made a push for the No. 3 pick in the hopes of drafting Luka Doncic, it doesn’t seem like a trade with the Hawks will materialize, according to reports. Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports suggests (via Twitter) that those discussions have “lost momentum” in recent hours.

Meanwhile, Marc Stein of The New York Times reports (via Twitter) that the Hawks and Mavericks are still engaged in talks, but Dallas has been unwilling to send Wesley Matthews to Atlanta in exchange for Kent Bazemore. The two players’ salaries are comparable, but Bazemore is under contract for two more years, while Matthews will be on an expiring deal, so the swap would essentially amount to paying $19MM+ to move up two spots.

Mike Fisher of 247Sports.com and Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (Twitter links) are among those suggesting that a trade is still possible. However, at this point it seems more likely than not that the Mavs will stay put at No. 5, as president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson hints.

“We feel very comfortable with where we’re at (No. 5) and that’s probably how it’s going to play out,” Nelson said tonight, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).

Draft Rumors: Hawks, Bazemore, Porter, Suns

June 21st, 2018 at 4:42pm CST by Luke Adams

With Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III viewed as near-locks to be the first two players off the board in the 2018 NBA draft, the No. 3 pick is worth keeping a close eye on. Zach Klein of WSB in Atlanta hears (via Twitter) that the Hawks trading back to No. 5 is a viable possibility. In that scenario, the Mavericks would select Luka Doncic and Atlanta would grab Trae Young.

Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer follows up on Klein’s report, tweeting that the Hawks and Magic – who hold the No. 6 pick – have also been connected, according to a source. In either trade scenario, Kent Bazemore may be involved in a deal, per Klein and O’Connor.

As we wait to see what happens with the No. 3 pick, here are a few more draft-related rumors and notes:

In the latest version of his mock draft at ESPN.com, Jonathan Givony reports that there’s a chance Michael Porter Jr. will slip out of the top 10 due to concerns about his back and hip. Givony has Porter coming off the board at No. 12 to the Clippers.
The Suns continue to gauge the market as they explore a possible move up from No. 16, but it will be “extremely hard” to make a deal, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, adding that most teams in the top 10 are reluctant to trade. If Phoenix stays at No. 16, keep an eye on Maryland’s Kevin Huerter as a possible “sleeper” pick, Gambadoro adds (via Twitter).
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks details (via Twitter), the Hawks, Bulls, Mavericks, and Sixers are ineligible to acquire any cash in trades tonight, while the Cavaliers and Heat can’t send out any cash. Although those teams have reached their 2017/18 limits, they could always reach a tentative trade agreement and finalize it in July, after those traded-cash restrictions reset.