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Do the Atlanta Hawks Have Any Buyout Targets?

By Dallin Duffy

ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 20: Eric Bledsoe #6 of the Milwaukee Bucks passes around Damian Jones #30 of the Atlanta Hawks during the first half of an NBA game at State Farm Arena on November 20, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 20: Eric Bledsoe #6 of the Milwaukee Bucks passes around Damian Jones #30 of the Atlanta Hawks during the first half of an NBA game at State Farm Arena on November 20, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
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Searching the Atlanta Hawks’ roster for any potential buyouts.

Now that the Trade Dealine and All-Star Break have died down, buyout season has ramped up. The Atlanta Hawks have been engaged in the buyout market in the past couple seasons, parting way with veterans like Jeremy Lin, Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova after not finding trades for them.

This season the Hawks were among the most busiest teams at the deadline, sending away some and bringing in even more players. Clint Capela, Skal Labissière, Dewayne Dedmon, Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham all were added, making the Hawks’ roster quite full.

With Allen Crabbe, Evan Turner and Chandler Parsons all gone, there are no more prime buyout options on the team, although there is still a chance the Hawks let someone go.

Trevon Graham, who was attached to Jeff Teague in the trade with Minnesota, has played just 10.1 minutes per game with the Hawks, racking up a few DNPs as well. That limited playing time came during a time when the Hawks were extremely injured. Now that the Hawks are finally getting healthy, his playing time could be completely gone.

The Hawks could consider buying out the rest of the26-year-old’s $1.6 million deal rather than have him rot on the bench.

Vince Carter has been great for the Hawks’ young core in his 1.5 years in Atlanta, and while he’s stated in the past he rather get minutes than sit on a contender’s bench, he could change his mind for the final two months of his career.

A final buyout candidate could be Damian Jones, who has been disappointing after being added via a trade last summer. The two-time champion has averaged 14.6 minutes in the past 25 games, despite starting nine of them.

With five centers on the roster now Jones is probably the 5th option, and would be getting a ton of minutes moving forward unless there’s an injury. As with Treveon Graham, moving on from Jones rather than playing him over rookie Bruno Fernando could be an option.

Jones likely won’t be offered the $3.4 million qualifying offer this summer, which would make him a unrestricted free agent. It would be a surprise for the Hawks to bring him back.

Next. Predicting the Hawks' rotation post All-Star. dark

We’ll have to wait and see for now. The NBA deadline for buyouts is March 1st.

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