What’s left for the Hawks to do this offseason?

The Hawks’ 2024 offseason got off to a big bang when it was announced on June 28 that Dejounte Murray was being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. Coming in was reportedly Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., two first-round picks, and, third-year forward E.J. Liddell — reported later as an add to the haul.

This move in conjunction with drafting 6-foot-9 forward Zaccharie Risacher first overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, the team has re-orientated the team around star player Trae Young, and they have aimed at supplementing him with bigger wing players and three-point shooters.

Still, the downside of this move is the Hawks’ second-best player and secondary offensive engine from 2022-24 is no longer available to deploy. It’s a loss that will certainly sting in the short term, but in getting a useful young wing player with upside, a long shot project in Liddell, and a useful rotational big along with two picks, the hope is that the long term outlook is now rosier.

Let’s quickly look at the projected depth chart and then identify where the Hawks could target improvements. I’ll include every player either currently on the team and ones probable to enter restricted or unrestricted free agency seeking a standard contract from Atlanta (Vit Krejci and Saddiq Bey). The probable current starting lineup is bolded below.

Guard: Trae Young / Kobe Bufkin

Wing: Bogdan Bogdanovic / Zaccharie Risacher / Dyson Daniels / Vit Krejci (RFA) / Garrison Mathews

Forward: Jalen Johnson / De’Andre Hunter / Saddiq Bey (UFA) / Mouhamed Gueye / EJ Liddell

Big: Clint Capela / Onyeka Okongwu / Larry Nance Jr. / Bruno Fernando (non-guaranteed)

If Krejci, Bey, and Fernando are all retained, that would mean Atlanta would currently have 16 guaranteed contract players. Of course, the Hawks won’t have to get down to the limit of 15 players until the start of the 2024-25 season, so until then the Hawks figure to be active on the metaphorical trade block.

Backup point guard

As currently constructed, the only real backup point guards on the roster are Kobe Bufkin — in my opinion more of a combo guard with just 196 minutes of NBA experience — and Dyson Daniels — a wing-sized player who has spent around 31% of his career minutes at point guard per Basketball-Refererence.

The Hawks will want to find a veteran option to compete with Kobe Bufkin and provide insurance for Young as well. But with the salaries on the books as well as possible contracts upcoming Bey and Vit Krejci, that player will have to make sense financially (given the de facto luxury tax threshold that the team is very unlikely to exceed).

This player could be brought in by trade, but if that fails the Hawks may need to go bargain hunting in the free agent market. Some names out there that might make sense are Tyus Jones (coming off a career-season with Washington so he may be out of the price range for Atlanta), Monte Morris, Dennis Smith Jr., and Markelle Fultz (two guys who fit the bigger, defensive-minded theme of the offseason).

Figure out the center logjam

Clearly, the Hawks have a crowded frontcourt as things currently stand. There is still time to make a move, but some of the center dominos in free agency have already fallen — the biggest one being the Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder news.

Onyeka Okongwu’s salary jumps to $14 million this season in the first year of his extension, meaning the Hawks now have three big men making at least $11 million for next season. Okongwu is the youngest and the only one of the trio signed beyond 2025, so that may make him a leader in the clubhouse to remain on the team in my opinion.

It’s possible the Hawks try to use Nance at the 4 some, but he’s largely been a center during his time in New Orleans per Basketball-Reference next to Zion Williamson, so that would represent a change in role. Atlanta also has an ascending power forward that figures to have a big share of the ball, so Nance’s best role may be to continue to space the floor and play above the rim next to him at center. He shot 42% from three on a smallish volume (just over two attempts per game and a .27 three-point rate).

And while the Hawks are waiting until July 10 to decide on whether to guarantee Bruno Fernando’s salary for 2024-25, he would surely be no more than a third big for Atlanta.

That brings us to Clint Capela. Capela is entering the last season of his contract at just over $22 million for this year. But he is now on the wrong side of 30 with an extensive injury history, and that could prod a proactive decision to move on from him. Still, as a player with a strong defensive reputation, a team closer to contending may look to bring him in as a finishing piece.

My guess is for the Hawks to decide between moving Capela or Nance and attempt to elevate Okongwu into the starting center spot. His minutes with Jalen Johnson have been really promising, and his long term contract mean the Hawks could use the near future to see if they have a starting center in him.

PBP Stats

New contracts for Saddiq Bey and Vit Krejci?

Per Brad Rowland of the Locked on Hawks podcast and formerly of Peachtree Hoops dot com, the Hawks are still negotiating with the two above names.

Bey is coming off an ACL team in March that projects him to miss the next 6-to-9 months of basketball action, and Krejci is coming off a two-way contract seeking a multi-year deal. Neither pact will be particularly onerous I would bet, with Bey possibly seeking a small guarantee for this season and a chance to cash in later and Krejci with little track record beyond the second half of 2023-24 to demand a high salary.

Still, retaining their own players from last year will be big for a team that just underwent a big roster shakeup in moving Dejounte Murray. Last year, the team was repeatedly beset by injury, but with another leap from Jalen Johnson and the arrival of Zaccharie Risacher, there is a clear path to improving on the 36-win 2023-24 team in 2024-25.