Hawks forward Saddiq Bey will enter the unrestricted free agent market. The Hawks did not tender a qualifying offer to Bey, according to a person familiar with the situation, which opened the door for him to explore his options. ESPN first reported the news.
Bey played a significant role in the Hawks’ rotation last season, as injuries cut into the team’s front-court depth. He averaged 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds last season as the team leaned heavily on him as a starter at both small forward and power forward with injuries to both Jalen Johnson and De’Andre Hunter.
Unfortunately for Bey, an ACL injury cut his season short. He had surgery to repair it in March and will spend his offseason recovering and rehabbing.
The Hawks had looked to negotiate a deal with Bey last offseason, but ultimately both sides could not reach an agreement.
The Hawks had until Saturday to decide whether they wanted to tender an offer, which we would have allowed Bey to continue exploring his options. If another team provided him with an offer sheet, the Hawks would have had the chance to match it or opt to allow Bey to sign elsewhere.
But they skipped that process, allowing Bey to negotiate with other teams freely. The Hawks could also find other avenues to sign Bey to a contract. The Hawks still have his Bird rights since he played for the team for multiple seasons, and they can sign him to a deal even if it is over the cap because of that.
It also keeps the Hawks in a more favorable financial position, with $166 million committed to players under contract. The Hawks already have gone over the salary cap, but they have some wiggle room before they hit the $171 million threshold that would make them pay the luxury tax.
It now allows the Hawks room to negotiate an extension with forward Jalen Johnson, as well as the room to sign first-overall pick Zaccharie Risacher to his rookie-scale deal.
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