Hawks To Take Wait-And-See Approach After Big Draft
The Atlanta Hawks were one of the most noticeable teams at the NBA Draft but that doesn't mean they'll be the loudest come free agency. In fact, if the speculation is true, expect the Hawks not to make much noise at all as NBA free agency opens up this Sunday, July 1, 2018.
The Hawks have about $20 million in available cap space, so they could be one of the busier teams this summer if they want. With Trae Young being their first-round selection in the draft and now potentially their new shooting guard— ala Steph Curry— moving forward, it would make sense that the franchise surround Young and existing players like Dewayne Dedmon and Mike Muscala with the necessary pieces to compete. Instead, Hawks GM Travis Schlenck said to Charles Odum of The Associated Press, the Hawks will take a wait-and-see approach when free agency kicks off Sunday.
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What may happen is that Schlenck has his hands full with the situation developing guard Dennis Schroder who may have suggested he wanted to be traded with comments at a German press conference. While Schroder says those comments were taken out of context, there are rumblings that the issues of Schroder sharing time with Trae Young was not high on his priority list. New coach Lloyd Pierce believes those comments were taken out of context as well and is confident that Schroder is committed to the Hawks’ plans to rebuild. Pierce thinks Schroder will remain with the team.
Also, Guards Malcolm Delaney ($3.125MM) and Damion Lee ($1,537,872) both have decisions to make regarding whether or not they'll be opting in or out before Friday's deadline.
Outside of ensuring Schroder is happy, the Hawks are expected to look internally at their own contracts and perhaps make trades to grab overpaid contracts from other teams in an effort to obtain more and better draft picks as part of their rebuild.
