Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Atlanta Hawks.
Free agent signings
- Cody Zeller: Three years, $11,025,000. Second and third years non-guaranteed. Signed using Non-Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Pelicans.
- Vit Krejci: Four years, $10,185,213. Second year partially guaranteed ($1.5MM). Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option. Re-signed using Non-Bird rights.
Trades
Acquired the draft rights to Nikola Djurisic (No. 43 pick) from the Heat in a three-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to AJ Griffin (to Rockets) and cash (to Heat).- Acquired Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller (sign-and-trade), the Lakers’ 2025 first-round pick, and either the Pelicans’ or Bucks’ 2027 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable; top-four protected) from the Pelicans in exchange for Dejounte Murray.
- Acquired David Roddy from the Suns in exchange for E.J. Liddell.
Draft picks
- 1-1: Zaccharie Risacher
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $57,027,436).
- 2-43: Nikola Djurisic
- Unsigned.
Two-way signings
Departed/unsigned free agents
- Saddiq Bey (Wizards)
- Trent Forrest (Baskonia)
- Wesley Matthews (unsigned)
- Dylan Windler (unsigned)
Other moves
- Exercised Garrison Mathews‘ 2024/25 team option ($2,230,253).
- Waived Bruno Fernando.
Salary cap situation
- Operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
- Carrying approximately $169.5MM in salary.
- Hard-capped at $178,132,000.
- Full mid-level, bi-annual exceptions available.
- Two traded player exceptions available (largest worth $25,266,266).
The offseason so far
The Hawks’ offseason began with a bang, as the team unexpectedly landed the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery, moving up nine spots from No. 10 in the pre-lottery odds.
In another year (say, 2023), that stroke of luck might’ve fundamentally changed the direction of the franchise. However, the 2024 draft class didn’t feature a generational prospect – or even a clear-cut top option – so moving up to first overall didn’t really alter Atlanta’s offseason goals. The team still had a backcourt situation to address, with either Dejounte Murray or Trae Young considered likely to be traded
It was ultimately Murray who was on the move, sent to the Pelicans in exchange for a package that included a promising young guard (Dyson Daniels), a useful role player (Larry Nance Jr.), a couple salary-matching pieces, and some draft assets.
While Atlanta made two more minor deals this summer, trade candidates like Young, Clint Capela, and De’Andre Hunter remain on the roster, with little indication that the club is aggressively looking to move any of them. And it was a quiet summer in free agency for the Hawks, whose only signings were Cody Zeller (part of the Murray deal via sign-and-trade) and Vit Krejci (who got a promotion after finishing last season on a two-way deal).
The Hawks now appear caught somewhere in between contending and rebuilding. With Young, Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and rising star Jalen Johnson on the roster, Atlanta isn’t about to bottom out, but there’s not enough talent spread throughout the rest of the roster to make the team a legit threat to win the Eastern Conference. The development of No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher will also require some patience, as he’s unlikely to become a high-level rotation player right away.
The Hawks’ roster underwent some changes this summer, but it still feels like more could be coming, either in the fall or at the 2025 trade deadline.
Up next
With Murray gone, I wouldn’t expect Young to go anywhere this summer or fall, but his situation will be worth monitoring going forward if the Hawks remain stuck in the middle. Capela is the more likely trade candidate in the short term, given that he’s entering a contract year and the club has his potential long-term replacement (23-year-old Onyeka Okongwu) under team control through 2028.
The Hawks currently have 15 players on guaranteed standard deals and are operating just under the tax line, so if they do make a deal, they won’t want to take on any extra salary. It wouldn’t be a surprise if this is the group they take into the regular season.
Even if that’s the case, there’s one more major contract situation to address: Johnson is eligible for a rookie scale extension up until October 21, the day before the regular season begins. And after a breakout year in which he averaged 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 33.7 minutes per game across 56 contests, he’ll have some leverage in those negotiations.
On the latest episode of Yahoo Sports’ No Cap Room podcast (YouTube link), Jake Fischer indicated that the fourth-year forward is hoping for a maximum-salary deal and that his agency – Klutch Sports – will likely open negotiations with Atlanta by asking for that amount, if that hasn’t happened already.
“The Hawks made basically everyone available for trade since February besides him,” Fischer said. “So of course you’re going to be thinking, ‘Well, pay me that way.'”
Still, as Fischer points out, Johnson has had some injury issues and played an extremely limited role prior to the 2023/24 season, so the Hawks won’t just hand him a maximum-salary contract. If that’s his demand, he’ll likely reach restricted free agency in 2025 and have to show in ’24/25 that he’s worth that sort of investment. If he’s willing to compromise with the club, perhaps the two sides will work something out by this year’s Oct. 21 deadline.
No. 43 overall pick Nikola Djurisic‘s situation is also worth keeping an eye on. He’s one of the last remaining unsigned 2024 draftees, but he’s recovering from foot surgery and will miss the start of the season, while Atlanta doesn’t currently have a 15-man or two-way roster spot available.
It’d be easy enough for the Hawks to open up a two-way spot if that’s the plan for Djurisic, but he looks like a candidate to become a draft-and-stash prospect. That would mean spending the 2024/25 season either playing overseas or as a member of the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ G League affiliate.