The Hawks are headed toward a roster squeeze, and that alone has people watching Atlanta a little differently.
With 17 players currently on the books, the team has to trim down to 15 before the 2026-27 season starts. The simplest path would be to let two players walk in free agency, but that’s not the way many around the league expect President of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh to handle it. Atlanta has already built a reputation for being willing to make a bigger swing, and the expectation is that the Hawks could use a trade or two to reshape the group in a way that helps the core right away.
That’s why the recent buzz around Peyton Watson and Jarrett Allen has turned heads. Both are viewed as valuable, under-the-radar pieces, but the paths to getting them are not the same.
Watson has been floated as a possible Hawks sign-and-trade target for much of the offseason. Allen, on the other hand, is the newer name - and the more intriguing one given Atlanta’s needs.
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported in a late-night intel drop that the Hawks “have indeed made their interest in Jarrett Allen known to Cleveland for some time,” though Cleveland “has not entertained moving its starting center.”
Still, the idea isn’t absurd. The modern NBA has made room for core players to move, and Cleveland has had its share of postseason disappointment in this current era led by Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley.
After moving Darius Garland before the last trade deadline, the Cavaliers could decide to keep tinkering. Fischer also noted that Cleveland wants help on the wing, and that Kuminga would fit that need, whether as a starter or a bench piece.
A sign-and-trade involving the two could be one way to make that happen.
From Atlanta’s side, Allen makes obvious sense. He’s an athletic, rim-running center with an All-Star appearance on his resume, and that kind of presence would slide neatly into what the Hawks are trying to build. Pairing him with Onyeka Okongwu would give Atlanta what might be the best center rotation in the league.
Watson feels like the more realistic route, though it would still require a sign-and-trade because he remains in restricted free agency. His appeal is easy to understand: he’s a strong wing defender with good size and an offensive game that keeps expanding. He fits Atlanta’s timeline, and if the Hawks can land him at a sensible price, it could end up looking like one of the best moves of the summer.
Atlanta may end up with one of these names. It may even land both. That’s the kind of uncertainty Saleh seems to invite, and it’s exactly why the Hawks keep people guessing.
In Other News...
Hawks Got Pulled Into Another Cap Mess With Huge Denver Fallout
Oklahoma Citys latest bit of cap maneuvering is a reminder of how quickly one teams bookkeeping can become another teams headache. Sam Presti was able to put a two-year, $12 million offer sheet in front of restricted free agent Spencer Jones, and Denver chose to match it, keeping the player and absorbing the kind of financial consequences that come with living so close to the edge of the new apron rules.
For the Thunder, the move fit neatly into a broader summer of trimming costs and preserving flexibility, with the club lowering its luxury tax bill through a series of contract and draft-pick decisions. For Denver, it leaves the Nuggets navigating a far tighter path as they try to manage the rest of their roster business, and it is exactly the sort of ripple effect Atlanta can appreciate from a distance when one franchises cap strategy starts squeezing everyone else around it. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Face Painful Call On Young Defender Who Keeps Showing Value
Mouhamed Gueye has quietly made the kind of defensive case that front offices notice, even if it does not always show up in the loudest box-score numbers. Last season, his impact metrics suggested he was one of Atlantas most useful young stoppers, and that matters now because the Hawks are trying to sort through a crowded roster with more bodies than available opening-night spots.
The squeeze is only getting tighter as new frontcourt additions enter the picture and the team weighs longer-term contract decisions elsewhere on the roster. Gueyes value gives Atlanta a real reason to think twice, but with no official resolution yet, the Hawks are still staring at a painful choice between keeping a defender who has earned trust and making room for the rest of the puzzle. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Fans Can Already See Devin Carters Roster Problem
Onsi Saleh has a decision coming before the 2026-27 season, and it is already easy to see why the Hawks are weighing the edges of the roster so carefully. The front office has to trim two players, and Devin Carter sits right in the middle of the kind of debate teams have when a young guard brings real energy but still has to prove he can fit cleanly into a rotation.
Carters case is built on the stuff coaches love to point to first: defense, hustle and a knack for helping create extra possessions. The problem is the shot has not come with it, and a player who can make life harder on opponents but not consistently punish them at the other end can become a tough roster fit fast. For Carter, the path to sticking in Atlanta may come down to whether his shooting can catch up to everything else he already does well. [Read more 🡒]