The Atlanta Hawks underperformed this year despite acquiring All-Star Dejounte Murray before the start of the season. They finished with a 41-41 record, and even though they made it out of the play-in tournament, they were eliminated in the first round by the Boston Celtics in six games.
The new CBA is very prohibitive for luxury tax teams, and the Atlanta Hawks are one of the eight teams that are currently within the tax threshold. This could cause them to move some of their players, and a recent report from Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report suggested that the team could trade John Collins and Dejounte Murray to deal with this issue.
“The Hawks are facing a more immediate problem under the new CBA, with a payroll projected to be $172 million and $16.4 million in luxury taxes (more if players hit various incentives). The team is believed to be looking for a home for John Collins, but some whispers abound that Dejounte Murray could be had in the right deal.”
John Collins is currently in the third year of a five-year, $125 million contract, and he will be making $25,340,000 during the 2023-24 season. Meanwhile, Dejounte Murray is on an expiring contract in 2023-24, and Eric Pincus explained that the team will not be able to keep him without shedding other salaries.
“Murray is due $18.2 million this season but may not be open to an extension limited to a $25.4 million starting salary. Unless Atlanta can shed significant salary elsewhere, they may not be able to afford Murray at his current price, let alone on a new deal in his likely asking range above $30 million.”
There is no doubt that the Atlanta Hawks are in a tough situation right now. We will see how they fix their salary cap situation, but it seems as though some moves are on the horizon.
The Lakers Could Make An Offer For Trae Young
There are other moves that could happen this summer that involve the Hawks. In fact, a previous report suggested that the Lakers could make an offer for their star point guard, Trae Young.
“The Lakers have had internal discussions about what a hypothetical trade offer for Young could look like this summer, according to multiple league sources not authorized to speak publicly.”
It will be interesting to see what direction the team takes this summer. It is clear that there are multiple avenues the team could go, and the choices are clearly between a retool or a full-scale rebuild.
