The Hawks are running out of room, and this weekend may be the first real test of how they plan to fix it.
Atlanta enters the stretch with 17 players on the roster for 15 regular-season spots, and with training camp only a month away, the front office has to start turning over every option. The team has been busy this offseason - re-signing CJ McCollum and Jock Landale, adding three rookies headlined by Kingston Flemings at No. 8, and swinging trades for Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Devin Carter and Ryan Nembhard - but the math still doesn’t work.
Today matters because it is the NBA’s waive-and-stretch deadline, the last day a team can spread a waived player’s salary over multiple seasons. That may not be Atlanta’s most likely path, but it’s one of the levers still available.
The Hawks are also under the luxury tax, which means there isn’t the kind of urgency that forces a move. Even so, the roster squeeze is real.
Tomorrow brings another key date: Devin Carter becomes trade-eligible. Atlanta brought in Carter and a second-round pick from Sacramento this offseason, taking a low-risk shot on a former lottery pick with defensive value. He was never a sure thing to crack the roster, and now that he can be moved, the Hawks can gauge whether another team wants him enough to help clear a spot.
If Atlanta does decide to use the waive-and-stretch route, Buddy Hield is the name to watch. He’s due $9.6 million this season and isn’t expected to be part of the rotation. His contract being guaranteed for this year came as a surprise, and if the Hawks can’t find a trade, waiving and stretching him would create room.
Mouhamed Gueye is another possible casualty because his $2.4 million salary is non-guaranteed. Nembhard is in that conversation too, though he can’t be traded until Sept. 19th.
Neither would be stretched if waived. Corey Kispert is the player Atlanta would most like to move, but stretching him would be too expensive, so that doesn’t look like a realistic answer.
Nothing has to happen this weekend. But deadlines have a way of forcing decisions, and if the Hawks can’t find a trade for Hield or another player, they may choose the cleanest option available. Carter’s trade eligibility adds one more path to explore, even if he wouldn’t bring back much on the market.
In Other News...
Jonathan Kuminga Could Become A Painful Hawks What-If Fast
Jonathan Kumingas next stop has the feel of one of those moves that can linger around a team long after the paperwork is done. His blend of size, burst and versatility makes him the kind of young frontcourt piece clubs spend years trying to find, and the fit now being discussed puts him in a situation where the surroundings could help unlock more of that talent.
For Atlanta, the uneasy part is what comes next. Losing a player with Kumingas tools always invites second-guessing, especially for a team trying to build out its young frontcourt and sort through which pieces can grow together. If he settles in quickly elsewhere, the Hawks may be left wondering how much value they gave up and how expensive that kind of athletic upside can become. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Frontcourt Shakeup Opens A Bigger Role For An Unexpected Rookie
The Hawks have spent the summer reshaping the front line in a way that could create an unexpected opening for a rookie who was not supposed to be central to the conversation this soon. Jonathan Kuminga is headed to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a sign-and-trade, and Atlantas own deal sending Zaccharie Risacher for Luguentz Dort has only added to the sense that the frontcourt rotation is in flux as the roster gets reworked around new pieces.
Zuby Ejiofor is the name to watch now, especially if Atlanta has to absorb more wear and tear up front. With the Hawks already carrying a thinner group in the paint and a few injury concerns still hanging over the roster, the rookie could find himself pushed into meaningful minutes faster than expected. For a team trying to hold the line while the roster settles, that makes Ejiofor an intriguing part of the equation. [Read more 🡒]
Which Hawks Rookie Can Earn A Real Role Fastest
Atlantas rookie class gives the Hawks three very different bets, and each one comes with a possible path to early minutes. Kingston Flemings arrives with the kind of passing vision and perimeter shooting that can translate quickly if the adjustment period is manageable, while Zuby Ejiofor brings the sort of rebounding and shot-blocking that can give a young big a real niche. Henri Veesaar, meanwhile, stands out as a seven-footer who can stretch the floor, which is always worth a closer look when a team is sorting out how to build bench lineups.
The challenge for all three is the same one most first-year players face: finding a role before the growing pains pile up. The Hawks are not just asking which rookie is the most talented, but which one can earn trust fastest by doing one or two things well enough to stay on the floor. Flemings, Ejiofor and Veesaar each have a clear selling point, and each also has an area that will determine whether that promise becomes something Atlanta can use right away. [Read more 🡒]