The Hawks are one of just five teams projected to have significant salary-cap space this summer, but don't expect the team to use it on top free agents.
Instead, GM Travis Schlenk has said his plan is to use that space to absorb salaries in trades from teams looking to shed money while acquiring draft picks and promising young players. Schlenk predicts that as many as 16 teams will be subject to the luxury tax next season, meaning there could be several teams looking to make cost-saving deals.
The Hawks have the flexibility to make such deals because they have just seven players with fully guaranteed contracts for next season Three of those players have relatively cheap rookie-scale contracts for first-round draft picks and another will make the league minimum salary. The Hawks will add four more players in the upcoming draft.
Here is a look at the Hawks players under contract for next season.
*Player option
+$300,000 guarantees on June 22; remainder guarantees on July 27 (source: Eric Pincus)
!$450,000 guarantees on May 15
%non-guaranteed
About the Author
