Dissecting The Atlanta Hawks Roster Crunch

The Atlanta Hawks just extended their first-round series against the Boston Celtics after a 38-point, 13-assist performance by Trae Young, bringing the matchup back to Georgia for a sixth game.

While the Hawks are still alive in the 2023 postseason, they have a laundry list of items to figure out during the summer, including what to do with players looking for extensions, and established talent who might not be long for the club.

Saddiq Bey

The third-year forward is extension eligible after the conclusion of this season, and plays enough minutes for the Hawks to at least enter negotiations – assuming they wish to stick with him long-term.

Bey is a high-volume three-point shooter, who is one small efficiency leap away from adding tens of millions to his next contract. The 24-year-old has already hit over 500 triples in his short career, at 36.1% shooting, and his 6’7 frame allows him to switch between positions, providing Atlanta with a player who can play both the wing spot, and function as a small-ball power forward.

Bey isn’t yet a strong individual defender, but he works fine within a team construct, and generally knows where to be. He’s better at guarding bigger players than traditional wings, as he isn’t an elite athlete, but there remains upside on that end of the floor.

With the Hawks already having committed to DeAndre Hunter to the tune of $90 million over four years, it will be interesting to see what their interest level will be in retaining Bey, who should easily command over $15 million annually if he were to reach restricted free agency.

Of course, some money could be freed up if the Hawks decide to pivot away from our next player.

John Collins

It’s no secret that John Collins has been underutilized for the last couple of years, and has voiced as much himself. The former 20-point scorer is on a $125 million contract, and has become a frequent afterthought in Atlanta’s offense.

If the Hawks wish to keep Bey around, it would make sense that they finally give Collins his freedom, and trade him to a team willing to give him a larger role.

Collins is a player who primarily needs to be set up, but his sky high efficiency, and ability to shoot, makes him a premium target for players who wish to get him involved.

In Atlanta, the fit between Collins and Young doesn’t seem right, with the latter passing to Collins just 7.5 times per game. In contrast, Collins finds Young 13.6 times per evening.

Collins is one of the league’s best buy-low candidates, as the Hawks have torpedoed his value in recent years. Look for teams just outside the playoff picture, like the Chicago Bulls, to kick the tires on the idea of trading for Collins.

Onyeka Okongwu

The Hawks already have Clint Capela, which means the former sixth overall pick is primarily tasked with backup duties.

That’s a problem, as Okongwu is quite simply too good for that role. He would start on quite a few teams around the league due to his defensive acumen, ability to be a high-impact rebounder, and his underrated scoring touch.

Okongwu, like Bey, is extension eligible after this season. The Hawks will eventually have to figure out who they wish to have as their starting center going forward, and the guy left out will need to get moved elsewhere to get deserving minutes.

With Capela being owed $43.8 million over the next two seasons, Okongwu would be fair easier to move, and you can make the argument that he’d also fetch the better return.

One could toy with the idea of playing Okongwu as a power forward alongside Capela, but this is where the Collins, Hunter, and Bey conundrum pops up.

Plus, there’s yet another guy knocking on the door looking for minutes.

Jalen Johnson

The former first-round picks looks better and better each month, catapulting his name into the conversation of who to keep.

As an aside: While the Hawks have some pretty significant roster issues, you can never claim them to be poor drafters.

Johnson, fortunately, is still a year away from being extension eligible, allowing Atlanta to at least kick that can down the road for another season.

Yet, they also need to fully know what Johnson could do with more minutes, an increasingly difficult mission given the current personnel.

Even if they wanted to try Johnson as a more traditional wing, there’s the presence of rookie AJ Griffin to further clog things up in the already-cramped rotation.

Conclusion

The Hawks are in dire need of a consolidation trade. Outside of Young and Dejounte Murray, Atlanta need more talent at the very top. Building a package around Okongwu, Bey, and Collins could fetch a heavy return from a team looking for depth.

If the Raptors decide to blow everything up this summer, the above would be a decent initial offer for the services of Pascal Siakam. Or perhaps the Bulls would be interested in pivoting off DeMar DeRozan to build a sturdier roster around Zach LaVine.

Whatever the team might be, the Hawks need to go into this summer with the mindset of streamlining their roster. At this point, it’s simply necessary.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.