Atlanta Hawks: 4 Big Names Hawks Should Consider in Free Agency

A look at four notable free agents that the Atlanta Hawks might be able to sign in free agency.

With oodles of cap space, an up-and-coming young coach (that has shown an ability to defeat playoff-bound teams in recent weeks) as well as a stable of talented young players, the Atlanta Hawks should be one of the more desirable teams for free agents this offseason – at least from a basketball perspective.

One need only look at LeBron James’s recent decision to join the Los Angeles Lakers to see that these players think about things differently when it comes to making free agency decisions. However, LeBron is a special case, as he already believes he has cemented himself as the GOAT once he defeated the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.

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Other players do not have the luxury of being regarded as one of the greatest players of all time (though one player on this list would likely dispute that). As such, they must go where a team is willing to pay them a massive salary as well as where they think they have the best chance to win at a high level.

Coming into the year, the latter would have been seemingly impossible in Atlanta, but the Hawks have played extremely well of late, and they already have five more wins than they accrued all of last season (29 to 24).

The team’s young players are playing well, and Lloyd Pierce and Travis Schlenk have built a culture built around a fast pace and a ton of three-pointers. Why wouldn’t big name free agents want to sing up for that?

Let’s take a look at a few big names that might opt to become an ATLien.

Nikola Vucevic

First and foremost, the Atlanta Hawks need a defensive-minded center that can protect the rim on defense and step out to the three-point line on offense. Of course, every team in the NBA is looking for that player archetype and Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic is among the best on the market this summer as he hits unrestricted free agency at just the right time.

Vooch is having a career year, and he was encouragingly named to his first All-Star team. Though some might scoff at the watered-down Eastern Conference, his numbers this year are absurdly good and he was definitely a deserving All-Star choice.

In ESPN’s Real Plus/Minus metric, Vucevic ranks as the 8th-best player in the entire league with a 5.36 RPM, which is just behind LeBron James. Among centers, that RPM is second only to likely First Team All-NBA center Nikola Jokic. Vooch scores highly when separating his Offensive RPM and Defensive RPM as well. In ORPM, Vucevic trails only Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid, and in DRPM, he is behind only Rudy Gobert, Tyson Chandler and Hassan Whiteside.

To be Top 5 among centers in all three categories, as well as the focal point of the Magic’s offensive system, means Vooch will get “capital-p paid” this offseason. Could the Atlanta Hawks make him an offer he couldn’t refuse?

It’s a tantalizing question. The Hawks will have upwards of $50 million in cap space this offseason, but would tying the team’s future to a 28-year-old center really be worth it? Sure, it would immediately vault the Hawks into playoff contention (probably) in the East, but is that really what the team is aiming for? Probably not.

Still though, Vooch’s play style would certainly fill a need for the Hawks. We shall see if Vooch is high on the team’s priority list in terms of free agents.

Khris Middleton

Another major need for the Atlanta Hawks is wing depth. Once again, that is something that every team is looking for, but the Atlanta Hawks will (hopefully) be able to add players that fit this mold via the draft this offseason.

However, if they opt to go in another direction, perhaps signing Khris Middleton of the Bucks would fit the team’s timeline as well. Though Middleton is already 27 (and will be 28 before next season begins), his three-and-D skill set would help paper over the lack of defensive personnel the Atlanta Hawks have acquired so far in its rebuild.

Middleton has a player option for next season with Milwaukee, but it seems likely that he will opt out in order to test the market around the league. After being named to the All-Star game for the first time, Middleton’s services will probably be in high regard.

And why not? A career 38 percent shooter from beyond the arc, Middleton is averaging career-highs in rebounds and assists per game while producing 18.1 points per game on 55.6 true shooting percent with a career-high 24.7 usage rate. Middleton has been known to make a big shot or two, as this insanely deep spot-up prayer in last year’s playoff series against the Celtics indicates:

In this scenario, the Atlanta Hawks would likely look to add wing depth via the draft rather than a bloated contract in free agency. Still though, Middleton might be worth a look.

Klay Thompson

Now we’re getting into potential signings that are in the unlikely category. Though Klay Thompson is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, he has already professed his love for the Golden State Warriors organization, and it seems extraordinarily unlikely that he will move on to another team.

When you’ve won 3 out of the past 4 championships (which will likely soon be upped to 4 out of the past 5), there seems to be little reason to shake up the status quo.

Though some players might get antsy in the same situation year after year, such as the next player on this list, Thompson certainly carries himself like the most relaxed and generally “chill” basketball player in the world, as this exchange with notable maniac DeMarcus Cousins entails:

Despite this, could the Atlanta Hawks drop a mammoth offer on the table for Thompson? He would be a perfect fit alongside Trae Young in the backcourt – just like he has been for Stephen Curry in their incredibly successful Warriors career.

Travis Schlenk has long been believed to be aiming to emulate the success he had as an assistant GM in Golden State, so instead of trying to re-create the Splash Brothers, why not actually obtain one of them?

Klay is a defensive wizard and one of the best shooters in NBA history – which would fit in perfectly into Lloyd Pierce’s modern offensive system. Though unlikely, don’t sleep on this dream scenario of Klay and Trae in Atlanta Hawks jerseys.

Kevin Durant

And it all comes down to this. Kevin Durant has a player option with the Golden State Warriors this offseason, and though the team will likely be coming off of a three-peat, the scuttlebutt surrounding KD is that he is ready to move on to a different basketball situation.

The New York Knicks are the frontrunner, apparently, and if Kyrie Irving also goes to the Big Apple, the Knicks will be in great shape in terms of high-end talent.

However, could the Atlanta Hawks be a dark horse for landing Durantula? They have a strong young voice in the coaching ranks in Lloyd Pierce, a brilliant core of young talent and Hawks fans would embrace KD much more than Golden State’s fans ever have.

Durant would be coming in as the player to push this Atlanta Hawks squad over the top, and he would do so through his generational offensive game, which continues to chug along at an incredibly high level – much as it has over his 11-year NBA career.

A 10-time All-Star and 8-time All-NBA member with a career 49/38/88 slash line in 11 seasons, Durant is pretty much a guaranteed 25-point, 6-rebound, 5-assist per game guy at this juncture of his career. Though his defense has slipped during his Warriors tenure, it seems his ability to get amped for regular season games has also waned to a massive degree.

If Durant were to come to the Atlanta Hawks, this team would immediately be vaulted into the conversation as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference – especially in combination with what the team does in other areas of the offseason (the draft, trades, etc.).

While this might be a pipe dream, the Atlanta Hawks brass would be doing themselves a disservice if they didn’t at least gauge Durant’s temperature on joining up with Ice Trae, Red Pepper and John the Baptist in Atlanta.