Atlanta Hawks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Waive Ryan Kelly

October 19th, 2016 at 8:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks continue to slowly pare down their roster in advance of the regular season, waiving Ryan Kelly late on Tuesday night, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kelly is the second Atlanta player to be cut this week, along with Matt Costello, and his release reduces the team’s roster count to 18 players.

[RELATED: Hawks waive Matt Costello]

Kelly, 25, spent his first three seasons in the NBA as a member of the Lakers after being selected 48th overall in the 2013 draft. After averaging 22.9 minutes per contest during his first two seasons in Los Angeles, Kelly saw his playing time reduced last season, playing just 13.1 MPG in 36 contests. He averaged 4.2 PPG and 3.4 RPG in those games, shooting just 36.9% from the floor, 13.5% from beyond the arc, and 68.5% from the line.

With Kelly now on waivers, the Hawks have three more cuts to make to get down to the regular-season roster limit of 15 players. Josh Magette and Will Bynum, who are on non-guaranteed summer contracts, are most at risk. Mike Muscala also has a partially guaranteed deal, while Atlanta’s other 15 players have fully guaranteed 2016/17 salaries.

You can check out the full salary cap breakdown for the 2016/17 Hawks right here.

Jack Won't Be Ready To Start Season

October 18th, 2016 at 9:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer confirmed that point guard Jarrett Jack, who is recovering from knee surgery, won’t be ready to take the court when the regular season begins, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays (via Twitter). No timetable was given for Jack’s return.

Hawks Waive Matt Costello

October 17th, 2016 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have begun to make their preseason cuts, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has waived Matt Costello. The move reduces Atlanta’s roster count to 19, so the club will still have to cut at least four more players before opening night.

Costello, who played his college ball at Michigan State, averaged 10.7 PPG and 8.2 RPG during his senior year in 2015/16. After going undrafted in June, Costello quickly agreed to terms with the Hawks and then made it official with the team in July. The power forward received a $50K guarantee on a two-year deal from Atlanta.

Costello played sparingly during the preseason with the Hawks, appearing in two games and totaling 18 minutes. He seems like a good bet to land with a D-League team, but Atlanta doesn’t have its own affiliate, so it would be a challenge for the Hawks to closely monitor him if he does end up in the D-League.

Jack Making Progress With Knee

October 15th, 2016 at 9:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

New Hawks point guard Jarrett Jack hopes to begin non-contact work in practice next week, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta is being careful with Jack, who is still recovering after tearing ligaments in his right knee in January. “I can tell you my knee feels 100 times better this month than it did last month,” Jack said. “Coach and [the staff] are on me about rushing to get back. They tell me to take my time. They’d rather have me for the longer stretch of the season than just this early part. I’m going to take it day by day. Patience isn’t something I was blessed with, so I’m going to do my best until the time is right to step back on the court.”

Hawks In No Rush To Cut Roster Down To 15

October 14th, 2016 at 1:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Malcolm Delaney, who signed a two-year, $5MM deal with the Hawks in the offseason, isn’t a typical rookie, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Delaney, who is 27 years old and spent the last five seasons playing overseas, tells Vivlamore that he feels like he belongs in the NBA.
In a separate AJC piece, Vivlamore notes that no roster cuts appear imminent for the Hawks, who aren’t in any rush to reduce their roster to 15 players.

Hawks To Wait On Long-Term Deal For Schroder?

October 14th, 2016 at 12:27pm CST by Luke Adams

As high as they are on Dennis Schroder‘s potential, the Hawks may want to see how he handles the starting point guard job in Jeff Teague‘s absence before committing to a long-term deal, Stein writes. In that case, an extension this month seems unlikely.

[SOURCE LINK]

Splitter Injury Won't Impact Roster Decisions

October 13th, 2016 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks announced earlier this week that big man Tiago Splitter is expected to miss at least four weeks of action due to a hamstring injury, but Splitter’s status shouldn’t have an impact on how the team’s final roster is determined, per head coach Mike Budenholzer (Twitter link via Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

Splitter Out 4 Weeks With Hamstring Injury

October 11th, 2016 at 9:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Hawks announced via press release that Tiago Splitter was diagnosed with a grade 2 hamstring strain, which he sustained during a recent practice. An MRI taken Monday at the Emory Orthopaedics and Spine Center revealed the injury and he will be out a minimum of four weeks. A four-week timetable would mean that the earliest Splitter would return would be the second week of November, missing at least seven regular season games as a result.

Hawks forward Paul Millsap, who has a player option for next season worth $21,472,407, says he hasn’t decided whether or not he’ll opt out, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays. “I think the plan is to see how this season goes and go from there,” Millsap said. “I can’t predict what is going to happen. For me, it’s focus on basketball. Get through this year, try to get a championship for this team first of all. We’ll deal with all that during the summer time when we have all our options on the table.”

Dwight Howard On: Hawks, Perceptions, Free Agency

October 10th, 2016 at 11:31am CST by Eddie Scarito

Dwight Howard, who signed a three-year deal with the Hawks this offseason, is upset at the perceptions about him around the league and with fans, that he is a bad teammate and underachiever who doesn’t care enough about winning. In an interview with Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, the center addressed a number of topics. The entire piece is definitely worth a look, but here are some of the highlights:

On what a new beginning in Atlanta means to him:

“I changed up everything around me. I hold myself more accountable in certain situations. I try to be a better man, a better father, a better teammate. I know a lot of the stuff that’s been said about me that I can’t really control and has been false, but at the same time, I just want to show this city who I really am and show my teammates what kind of teammate I am. They’ve been great to me, and I think it’s a great situation for me to be in.”

On what changes he has made over the summer:

“Just things off the court, a lot of the stuff that was happening around me, just personal things. I tried to change that up and just really start over, get a clean slate. No offense to the people that I had around me, but I just wanted to start over, start fresh. Like I said, it’s a new beginning, so I wanted everything to be fresh. I didn’t want to bring any old baggage or anything from my past to this organization. They believe in me, this city believes in me, so I just wanted to make sure that when I’m out there on the court that I’m free, that I can give this city and this team everything that I’ve got.”

On why his pairing with James Harden in Houston didn’t work out:

“Well, sometimes things don’t work like they should. I’ve never had an issue with James. I wish him nothing but the best. I just think the timing of everything was a little bit different. That’s OK. All that stuff did was just mold me for this moment here, this organization, this team. They’ve asked me to be a leader. It’s my job to come in here every night and provide physicality and the leadership that this team needs.”

On if he was surprised that he didn’t receive any maximum salary offers in free agency this summer:

“Well, I knew all the situations that was going on. I really only looked into one place and that was the Hawks. I didn’t go to other teams. As soon as free agency opened, I met with Coach Bud [Mike Budenholzer] and [GM Wes Wilcox]. After the meeting, I went back to my car and I was like, “Man, this is where I want to be.” I didn’t need to meet with other teams. I didn’t care about what offers were on the table. I wanted to be in Atlanta. I wanted to represent for this team.”

On if he feels pressured not to be himself:

“Yeah, a lot of times I do feel like that. When I’m smiling, I’m supposedly not taking the game seriously. When I’m not smiling, then it’s like, “He don’t care. He’s just out there.” When I was in Orlando and everything was going well and we were winning, even in L.A. when we won those games and stuff like that, me smiling didn’t bother people. But like I said, you really can’t please people. I know everybody’s attention is on what I’m doing on the floor. My job is to be the best teammate I can be, push these guys to the limit every day, make sure that I’m being the right type of leader.“

Jabari Brown, Richard Solomon To Play Overseas

October 6th, 2016 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

Jabari Brown and Richard Solomon were among the NBA’s first preseason roster cuts over the last few days, having been waived by the Bucks and Hawks, respectively. Brown’s release came on Wednesday, meaning he hasn’t even cleared waivers yet, but already both players have lined up new deals overseas.

According to international basketball reporter David Pick (via Twitter), Brown has agreed to a deal with the Jilin Northeast Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he’ll replace Tony Crocker. Assuming the two sides finalize that agreement, it will be a return to China for Brown, who played for the Foshan Long Lions last season.

Brown, 23, averaged an impressive 32.4 PPG for Foshan in 27 games, also chipping in 3.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.1 SPG. Over the last two seasons, the young shooting guard has also spent time with the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, averaging 23.1 PPG and shooting .443/.374/.842 in 47 D-League contests.

As for Solomon, the forward has agreed to terms with Gravelines-Dunkerque in France, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The team has since confirmed the signing, announcing it via Twitter.

Solomon, who went undrafted out of the University of California in 2014, appeared in 59 games in the Japanese League last season and averaged 11.3 PPG and 8.9 RPG. Previously, he spent 28 games with Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate in 2014/15, averaging 8.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG.