Travis Schlenk — again — doesn’t figure to be active at the start of free agency.
As he did last year, the Hawks general manager will take a wait-and-see approach now that the draft is over and the NBA free agency period opens at 6 p.m. Sunday. The Hawks currently have a roster of 14 players (plus one two-way contract). There is room for just one more player (and another two-way) without a corresponding move. They also only have about $15 million of salary-cap space.
Next year, why that might be a different story. With expiring contracts alone, the Hawks would have $67 million in cap space. There would have room for two max contract players to add to a young core. During his rebuild, Schlenk has focused on the draft. Next year, it might be time to turn to free agency for the final additions.
This free-agency period, the focus is on adding complementary pieces.
“That is something that has been going on for awhile now,” Schlenk said last week following the draft on moving toward free agency. “These things run parallel, free agency and the draft. We’ll take a look at our roster, see where we are and plug in our holes in free agency.”
The Hawks plugged one hole by trading for Evan Turner, who can play backup point guard, in exchange for Kent Bazemore. As the roster currently stands, there is a need at center.
The Hawks were slow to enter free agency last season. The transactions during the period were:
• The trade with the Thunder to acquire Carmelo Anthony on July 25. He was waived five days later. The deal brought back Justin Anderson.
• The agreement with Alex Len on July 21. The center signed Aug. 3.
• The agreement with Alex Poythress (two-way) and Daniel Hamilton on July 24 and 25, respectively. They each signed on Aug. 20.
• The agreement with Vince Carter on July 25. The veteran forward signed Aug. 24.
The Hawks may be less active this year.
“My guess is we are not going to be the first ones out of the gate in free agency again this year,” Schlenk said. “We will wait and see who falls through the cracks and see if we can get a good young player or a good veteran player who is going to work in our locker room and fit the needs that we need.”
The Hawks have said they would like to bring back Carter. A return of Dedmon also is a possibility. Or the Hawks could go in another direction altogether.
It is clear that the Hawks want to continue to allow for playing time for the young core of players — DeAndre Bembry, John Collins, Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Omari Spellman, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Bruno Fernando. There is a mix of veterans with Turner, Len and Miles Plumlee.
Hawks’ 2018-19 stats
While the Hawks could use another center and there are now three point guards with Turner added to Young and Jaylen Adams, coach Lloyd Pierce likes the options he has in the quest for development.
“There is intrigue,” Pierce said. “Cam is 6-foot-9 and can really handle the basketball and facilitate. I’ve spoken to Kevin about playing some with the basketball in his hands. How do you get Kevin more assertive with the basketball in his hands? Let him play with the ball. … There are two ways of looking at it, go get a point guard or try and grow these guys.”
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