Grading The Atlanta Hawks Offseason Moves

Acquiring An Overseas Star

As the salary cap sky-rocketed, role players began cashing out on huge deals that were worth much more than their production. This is because the NBA teams have a floor of $84.7 million that they must use. As a smart tactic, the Hawks agreed to sign Malcolm Delaney to a two-year $1.49 million deal, which is chump change at its finest in this market.

The Hawks were short at point guard depth-wise with Dennis Schroder as the only name listed at the position. Delaney, a 6’3″ combo guard who starred for Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnoda in the Euroleague last season, can be viewed as an above average point guard according to ESPN’s Kevin Pelton:

"Based on my Euroleague translations, Delaney projects as an average or slightly better backup point guard. He doesn’t figure to be great in any particular area in the NBA, but he shoots the 3 well enough to space the floor and is a capable ball-handler. And while contract terms haven’t yet been reported, given that the Hawks have only about $3 million in cap space, Delaney’s likely to come much cheaper than the $6-7 million backup point guards like D.J. Augustin and Ish Smith have gotten so far this summer. So this should be good value for Atlanta."

This move doesn’t only give Atlanta a solid option at back-up point guard, it also helps them save money to still pursue productive role players in the market. It’s a low-risk high-reward type of signing that the Hawks needed at this time.

No, they didn’t land a guy like Ish Smith or D.J. Augustin, who were at the top of the list when it came to back-up point guards, but they did make a smart business decision and got a solid player out of the deal as well.

Final Grade: B+

Next: Addressing Depth At Point Guard