Atlanta Hawks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Hornets, Miller, Smith, Christopher, Risacher

December 24th, 2024 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

After getting off to a decent 4-5 start this season, the Hornets have plummeted down the standings over the past month-and-a-half. Monday’s loss to Houston, Charlotte’s 13th in its last 14 games, dropped the team to 7-22 on the season and inspired a players-only closed-door meeting after the game, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer.

“I feel like we established ourselves in the first 10 games as a team that plays physical,” forward Miles Bridges said. “At one point we were leading the league in offensive rebounding. We’ve just got to get back to that. We had a great conversation. Taj (Gibson) really got us together in the locker room — players only — and he talked to us. I talked to the team, Taj talked to us a lot. I feel like that really got to us, so I feel like these next couple games we’re going to see who really wants to play.”

Bridges is the longest-tenured Hornet, having been with the organization since 2018. Gibson is a newcomer, but he was brought in to be a “meaningful voice in the locker room,” Boone writes. The veteran big man played that role in Monday’s meeting.

“I think them talking to us, I think they both said what everybody is thinking,” center Mark Williams said. “I think it just starts with us. We’ve got to be tougher, got to play harder. Just do all the things it takes to win. Just got to have some pride out there. I think we just lacked that tonight.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Hornets forward Brandon Miller has missed the past three games due to a sprained ankle, but he was initially listed as questionable for Monday’s game before being downgraded to out and appears to be on the verge of a return, per Boone. “The last couple days he’s rejoined some group activities that we’ve had. I think he’s really making good progress,” head coach Charles Lee said. “After (Monday’s) game, we’ll continue to evaluate him and see where he is maybe after Christmas.”
According to both Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald and Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Heat had been planning to promote guard Dru Smith from his two-way contract to a standard deal in the coming days in order to get back to the required 14-man minimum. That plan is now up in the air after Smith exited Monday’s game with a lower left leg injury. He’s undergoing an MRI on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury, as Chiang relays. “Obviously, the air went out of the building seeing him fall like that,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It wasn’t a contact injury. I don’t know the extent fully right now. I don’t want to pontificate until we get the MRI. But, yeah, we were all messed up for a while.”
Heat two-way guard Josh Christopher was the best player John Hollinger of The Athletic saw at the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando. As Hollinger writes, Christopher has improved his shooting and decision-making and is no longer simply getting by on his athleticism. While it remains to be seen whether or not there will be NBA minutes available going forward for the former No. 24 overall pick in the wake of Smith’s injury, Christopher did make his Heat regular season debut on Monday, logging a couple garbage-time minutes in a win over Brooklyn.
Hawks rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher didn’t get to play for the French national team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but this year’s No. 1 overall pick hopes to represent his home country in future international tournaments, starting next summer, as he tells Benjamin Moubeche of BasketSession (hat tip to BasketNews.com). “The French national team is a childhood dream,” Risacher said. “It’s always something special. Every competitor wants to win medals for their country, and for me, it would be an immense honor to represent France at the (2025) EuroBasket.”

Southeast Notes: Hunter, Young, Williams, Butler, Jaquez

December 21st, 2024 at 8:19am CST by Tristan Tucker

De’Andre Hunter is playing like a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, providing the Hawks with a scoring punch off the bench, Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Through 17 outings, Hunter’s 19.8 points per game and 45.3% shooting from beyond the arc are both career highs.

“He’s definitely in the running for Sixth Man of the Year, especially if you keep winning and doing the things we’ve been doing,” guard Trae Young said. “Because there’s not a guy come on the bench doing what he’s doing right now and being aggressive and scoring and efficiency and things like that. He’s really bought into it, and it’s made our team a lot better.”

The former No. 4 overall pick out of Virginia was an effective starter after being selected in 2019, averaging 14.3 PPG in 263 games (237 starts). After missing the first 11 games this year, the Hawks elected to bring him off the bench instead of starting him, and he’s thrived in the new role.

“We all know De’Andre can play,” center Onyeka Okongwu said. “He’s been able to play. He’s always been a scorer, defender. He’s finally healthy. Nothing he’s doing is really surprising to me. I’m glad he’s having the year he’s having right now. He deserves it the most.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Young is averaging career lows of 39.0% shooting from the field and 32.0% from three, but Williams writes in another story that the three-time All-Star is focused on making an all-around impact to win games rather than dwelling on his shooting percentages. “My percentages aren’t the way they’ve been, but I’m taking different types of shots, too,” Young said, noting that he has no qualms about taking low-percentage shots at the end of quarters or as the shot clock expires. “I’m obviously getting guys involved, and that’s my main priority, and obviously, the defense is the first priority.” As Williams notes, the Hawks star is leading the NBA in assists per game this season with 12.2 per contest.
Since their starting center returned from injury on Dec. 3, the Hornets continue to take a conservative approach with Mark Williams, including having him not play in back-to-backs. Williams understands the vision, but is eager to resume his normal playing schdule, Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes. “Just overall, as a leader of the team and one of the leaders of the organization, you have to understand what is your vision, what is your bigger picture? And as bad as you want to win games, we also want to make sure that we are putting our players in the best position possible to have great careers,” coach Charles Lee said of Williams.
Heat star Jimmy Butler exited in the first quarter of Friday’s game against the Thunder after turning his ankle and didn’t return. However, as noted by ESPN, he was ruled out for the rest of the night due to an illness, not his ankle injury. There was no word of the ankle in the team’s announcement. It’s not yet clear how much time Butler, involved in trade rumors this season, will miss due to either ailment.
With Butler ruled out, second-year Heat wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. started the second half and played 30 minutes, his third-most in a game this season. Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel speculates whether Jaquez could serve as Butler’s replacement in the starting small forward role if the latter is moved via trade.

Southeast Notes: Joseph, Daniels, Wizards, Hornets

December 20th, 2024 at 6:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Well-traveled Magic veteran guard Cory Joseph is becoming a valuable locker room presence for a rising young Orlando squad in his first season with the team, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.

“The league’s getting younger and they keep me young, too,” Joseph said of his Magic teammates. “It continues to change and you have to continue to adapt. I’m asking a lot of questions as well, trying to learn from them.”

Rookie forward Tristan Da Silva, the No. 18 pick in this summer’s draft, sang the point guard’s praises.

“He’s a great leader for this team, even though he’s not on the court as much,” Da Silva said. “He still has a huge impact on this team.”

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

New Hawks guard Dyson Daniels‘s goal is to improve his shooting mechanics and increase his three-point output this season, per Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Williams notes Daniels has made 30.8% of his 3.4 three-point tries per game overall this season, but also enjoyed a more consistent run between November 18-29, when he nailed 42.9% of 3.5 attempts per game.
Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena, home to both the Wizards and the NHL’s Capitals, has gotten the green light for a $515MM renovation, ensuring that both clubs will stick around for the long-term, writes David Aldridge of The Athletic.
Following a Thursday loss to lowly Washington, the Hornets have now dropped nine of their last 10 contests and fallen to a 7-20 record on the year. Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer wonders how, or if, Charlotte will be able to right the ship this year, even in a less competitive Eastern Conference — three East play-in teams have records below .500, but Charlotte is 4.5 games back of the No. 10 seed. The Hornets’ “core four” of All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball, forwards Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges, and center Mark Williams has rarely been able to stay on the court together thus far this season.

Trade Rumors: MPJ, LaVine, Butler, Suns, Nets

December 20th, 2024 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets are open to the idea of making a significant trade prior to the February 6 trade deadline, but they’re hoping they’ll see enough from their current group in the coming weeks to feel confident about not having to make a major in-season deal, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, who takes a closer look at Denver’s trade candidates and potential paths.

Meanwhile, following up on the rumor linking Zach LaVine to Denver and Michael Porter Jr. to the Bulls, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) confirm the Nuggets are indeed considering whether to trade Porter, whose $35.9MM cap hit would be necessary to complete a trade for a player earning a substantial salary.

According to Stein and Fischer, the Nuggets have “always been somewhat unsure” about Porter’s value on the trade market, due in part to his injury history, and are wary about making the team smaller by swapping him out for a guard like LaVine.

Sources tell The Stein Line that some people in the Nuggets’ front office believe that if the team needs to make a moving involving Porter, trading him for two starting-caliber players instead of a single star would be the best course of action. Fischer and Stein point to the Hawks‘ duo of De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic and the Nets‘ duo of Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith as examples.

I may be unsure about Porter’s trade value myself, but given two years and $79MM left on his contract after this season, I have to think that Atlanta and Brooklyn would require some serious sweeteners to seriously consider those trade ideas. That’s an issue for the Nuggets, who aren’t exactly stocked with draft assets — they’ve traded away three future first-round picks and included protections on all of them, complicating their ability to offer additional first-rounders or swaps in subsequent trades. That’s why targeting a distressed asset like LaVine makes sense in the first place.

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

The Suns are Jimmy Butler‘s preferred landing spot in the event of a trade, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter links). However, Gambadoro says Phoenix plans to wait until at least mid-January before making any decisions on trades, which includes anything involving Butler. Although Gambadoro believes the Suns like Butler, it’s unclear if they’d have the pieces to acquire him, given that Bradley Beal (who holds a no-trade clause) would have to be included in any deal.
Net Income of NetsDaily rounds up a few recent trade rumors involving the Nets and provides his own analysis on each of them. According to NetsDaily, Brooklyn is believed to be seeking at least one first-round pick and potentially “a prospect or two” for Cameron Johnson and is very reluctant to take on multiyear money in trades unless the accompanying return is “rich.”
Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) has published his pre-deadline trade primer for the 2024/25 season, running through all 30 NBA teams and taking a closer look at the big questions they have to answer, their tradable players and draft picks, and various restrictions they’re facing.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines 10 potential trade candidates, including a pair of Trail Blazers centers (Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams), and considers which landing spots are most realistic for them.

Hawks Reportedly Want To Trade Clint Capela Before Deadline

December 19th, 2024 at 1:52pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks hope to trade starting center Clint Capela before his $22.27MM contract expires in the offseason, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Atlanta has seven weeks to try to move Capela, with the trade deadline set for 2:00 pm CT on February 6.

According to Fischer, the Hawks’ willingness to deal Capela is at least partially motivated by their confidence in young backup center Onyeka Okongwu, a former lottery pick who is in the first season of a four-year, $62MM rookie scale extension. Okongwu will miss at least the next four games due to left knee inflammation, but he’s reportedly viewed as a long-term part of the team’s core.

After playing a career-high 33.6 minutes per game during the 2018/19 campaign, Capela has seen his playing time decline in each of the past six seasons. He’s averaging 23.0 MPG in ’24/25, the third-lowest mark of his 11-year career.

Capela’s minutes may have been steadily dwindling over the past several seasons, but he remains quite productive, with his per-36 averages for ’24/25 right in line with his career rates. In 27 games this season, he’s averaging 10.0 PPG, 9.4 RPG and 1.0 BPG.

A 30-year-old big man from Switzerland, Capela has popped in several trade rumors in recent years. He’s in his sixth season with the Hawks, who acquired him in a four-team deal in February 2020.

As Fischer observes, the tricky part for Atlanta is Capela’s cap hit is pretty significant. It’s understandable that the Hawks would want to get something in return for him if they don’t plan to re-sign him (they already have a lot of money committed to their roster in ’25/26), but it might be difficult to get solid value back for Capela, given his salary, expiring contract, and the fact that center is a pretty deep position in the NBA.

Antetokounmpo Headlines All-Tournament Team For NBA Cup

December 19th, 2024 at 12:24pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA announced the All-Tournament Team for the NBA Cup on Thursday, with Giannis Antetokounmpo headlining the five-player group (Twitter link). The Bucks superstar was named tournament MVP after Milwaukee defeated Oklahoma City in Tuesday’s final.

Here’s the full team, along with the amount of votes each player received (in parentheses) from a group of 20 media members:

Antetokounmpo, Bucks (20)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (20)
Damian Lillard, Bucks (19)
Trae Young, Hawks (12)
Alperen Sengun, Rockets (6)

All five players advanced to at least the semifinals of the league’s second in-season tournament. Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander were unanimous selections, while Lillard fell one vote shy.

According to the full voting results, Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein (5), Magic forward Franz Wagner (5), Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (4) and Thunder forward Jalen Williams (3) narrowly missed out on making the team. Six other players received one vote apiece.

The voting for the team is based on each player’s performance over the entire NBA Cup, including group play and the knockout round games. The Bucks went undefeated (7-0) to claim the trophy.

Hawks’ Okongwu Out At Least Four Games With Knee Inflammation

December 18th, 2024 at 5:31pm CST by Rory Maher

Center Onyeka Okongwu is dealing with left knee inflammation and will be sidelined for at least four games, the Hawks announced in a press release (Twitter link). According to the team, Okongwu will be reevaluated in about a week.

The Hawks will be in San Antonio on Thursday for a road game against the Spurs before returning home to Atlanta for a four-game homestand. Okongwu will miss Thursday’s contest and the first three home games of that stretch (vs. Memphis, Minnesota and Chicago). The earliest he could return would be next Saturday vs. Miami.

Although he’s technically a backup, Okongwu has actually averaged more minutes per game (23.8) than starting center Clint Capela (23.0) in 2024/25. Through 25 games, Okongwu has averaged 11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds, with a shooting line of .542/.244/.779 (he’s a low-volume three-point shooter, having converted 10-of-41 looks from long distance).

Hopefully it’s just a temporary setback for Okongwu, who missed several weeks of action last season due to a left big toe sprain. A former lottery pick (No. 6 overall in 2020), the 24-year-old big man is considered part of Atlanta’s young core. Okongwu’s four-year, $62MM rookie scale extension, which he signed in October 2023, began this season.

Unfortunately, Okongwu isn’t the only player on the roster dealing with an injury, as the Hawks announced earlier on Wednesday that second-year guard Kobe Bufkin will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.

Reserve big man Larry Nance Jr. will likely rejoin Atlanta’s rotation with Okongwu out.

Hawks Waive Two-Way Player Seth Lundy

December 18th, 2024 at 3:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

DECEMBER 18: The Hawks have officially waived Lundy, the team announced today in a press release.

DECEMBER 17: The Hawks are waiving two-way guard Seth Lundy, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto tweets.

Lundy has been sidelined with a left ankle injury and hasn’t appeared in any Hawks games this season.

The 2023 second-round pick out of Penn State saw action in nine games for Atlanta last season but spent the bulk of his time with the College Park Skyhawks in the G League. In those 25 NBAGL games (23 starts), the 6’4″ Lundy averaged 20.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in 32.6 minutes per contest. He shot 46.2% from the field and 40% on 3-point attempts.

Lundy signed a two-way deal prior to last season and was re-signed to another two-way contract in July. The 24-year-old underwent ankle surgery in mid-May.

The left ankle procedure removed a medial ankle bone spur. He re-aggravated his ankle while working out before a Hawks preseason game. He will be reevaluated in January, according to Scotto.

Kobe Bufkin To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

December 18th, 2024 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Kobe Bufkin will miss the rest of the 2024/25 season, according to the Hawks, who announced today in a press release (Twitter link) that the second-year guard will undergo surgery to address right shoulder instability.

The surgery, which was determined to be the best option for Bufkin after “continued evaluation and additional medical opinions,” will take place on January 7. He’s expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2025/26 season.

The 15th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Bufkin was limited to 17 NBA appearances in his rookie year, having missed a significant chunk of the 2023/24 campaign due to a fractured left thumb and a sprained toe.

He also suited up for 14 games in the G League last season, averaging 23.6 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per contest for the College Park Skyhawks, with a shooting line of .444/.356/.829.

Bufkin sustained a right shoulder subluxation (ie. a partial dislocation) during a Summer League practice this past July, then suffered the same injury in a practice just before the regular season began. He made his season debut on November 18 and appeared in 10 games this fall, but that shoulder was apparently never 100%, so he and the team have decided to take the surgical route to address it.

The result will be another lost season for Bufkin, who has averaged 5.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.6 APG on .374/.220/.654 shooting in 27 total NBA outings (11.9 MPG). Hopefully, the surgery will clear up any lingering issues with the shoulder and allow him to begin his third NBA season fully healthy.

Bufkin is under contract for $4.3MM this season and $4.5MM in 2025/26. The Hawks will have to make a decision by October 31, 2025 on his $6.9MM fourth-year option for the ’26/27 season.

Atlanta will have the ability to apply for a disabled player exception as a result of Bufkin’s season-ending injury. It would be worth half his salary (approximately $2.15MM) and would allow the club to sign a free agent to a rest-of-season contract or to acquire a player on an expiring deal via trade or waiver claim.

Warriors Remain Atop 2024 NBA Franchise Valuations

December 18th, 2024 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors remain the NBA’s most valuable team, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who unveiled the website’s updated NBA franchise valuations for 2024 on Wednesday.

Badenhausen projects the Warriors’ value at $9.14 billion, making them one of three teams to surpass the $8 billion mark this year. The Knicks have a projected worth of $8.3 billion, while the Lakers come in at $8.07 billion, per Sportico. Only the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys – at $10.3 billion – have a higher valuation than Golden State among North American sports teams, says Badenhausen.

While Sportico’s figures suggest the Warriors, Knicks, and Lakers are worth significantly more than the fourth-place team (the Nets at $5.7 billion), the average value of an NBA franchise is up to $4.6 billion, with no team worth less than $3 billion.

That average has increased by 15% since Sportico released its 2023 valuations last December and has nearly doubled since the site published its first NBA franchise valuations four years ago, when the average was $2.37 billion.

The NBA’s new $77 billion media rights deal and a 15% increase in team sponsorship are among the factors contributing to the rising valuations of the league’s franchises, according to Badenhausen, who notes that a post-COVID boom in concerts and other major events has been good news for team owners who also control their arenas.

NBA team owners operated 10 of the world’s 20 highest-grossing concert venues in 2024, with the Nets’ Barclays Center coming in at No. 1, says Badenhausen. The Nets’ valuation is up 43% this year, per Sportico, easily the largest year-over-year increase among the 30 NBA franchises.

When Forbes put out its NBA franchise valuations in October, it pegged the average value of a team at $4.4 billion. In the past, we’ve used Forbes as our primary source for NBA franchise valuations, but with Badenhausen making the move from Forbes to Sportico in recent years and the outlet establishing itself as a go-to resource for sports business news, we begun highlighting Sportico’s projections as of 2023.

Of course, it’s worth noting that figures from Sportico, Forbes, or any other media outlet are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands. But these projections are usually in the right ballpark and remain useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.

Here’s Sportico’s full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2024:

Golden State Warriors: $9.14 billion
New York Knicks: $8.3 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $8.07 billion
Brooklyn Nets: $5.7 billion
Los Angeles Clippers: $5.68 billion
Boston Celtics: $5.66 billion
Chicago Bulls: $5.56 billion
Miami Heat: $5 billion
Houston Rockets: $4.77 billion
Toronto Raptors: $4.66 billion
Philadelphia 76ers: $4.57 billion
Dallas Mavericks: $4.46 billion
Phoenix Suns: $4.32 billion
Sacramento Kings: $4.11 billion
Atlanta Hawks: $4.07 billion
Denver Nuggets: $4.06 billion
Washington Wizards: $3.98 billion
Cleveland Cavaliers: $3.95 billion
Milwaukee Bucks: $3.91 billion
San Antonio Spurs: $3.79 billion
Indiana Pacers: $3.74 billion
Utah Jazz: $3.67 billion
Portland Trail Blazers: $3.6 billion
Oklahoma City Thunder: $3.55 billion
Orlando Magic: $3.46 billion
Detroit Pistons: $3.45 billion
Charlotte Hornets: $3.39 billion
Minnesota Timberwolves: $3.29 billion
New Orleans Pelicans: $3.09 billion
Memphis Grizzlies: $3.06 billion

As Badenhausen notes, Sportico’s projections are based on a control sale price, rather than limited stake purchases. No NBA franchise saw its majority control change hands in 2024, but that could change in 2025, with control of the Celtics up for sale.

According to Badenhausen, team executives and investors have predicted a sale price ranging from $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion for the Celtics. The final valuation will be determined by a number of factors, including how many bidders are on the mix, what percentage of the team they can buy, and whether current governor Wyc Grousbeck insists on remaining in that role until 2028, which he has indicated is his goal.