The Atlanta Hawks moves make Danilo’ Gallinari’s stuation precarious
The Atlanta Hawks have done an incredible job this offseason of keeping their players happy and not risking the future of the franchise with bad deals. They have remained in win-now mode and even managed to cover the loss of crucial reserve player Onyeka Okongwu who will be out for the first few months of the season.
Up until the final day of the preseason, it looks as though Danilo Gallinari was in a good place next season to stay with the Hawks. He also would have his full $21.5 million contract guaranteed for the 2022-23 season. That was until the 11th hour of the offseason.
The Hawks had been looking to sign Kevin Huerter‘s rookie deal which they did at almost the last minute they were able to. This was the best situation for the team as Huerter is a needed player going forward. He is the glue guy of the second unit and can start if the team needs him to without them losing too much.
The Atlanta Hawks may look to trade Danilo Gallinari
Fortunately, the Hawks are in a tremendous position to move forward with their roster. They have managed to lock up John Collins, Trae Young, Clint Capela, and Huerter this offseason. This is after they signed Bogdan Bogdanovic to a long-term deal the season before.
On top of this, the Hawks have the rookie scale contracts of De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Okongwu who they will be pretty keen to keep around, given they just picked up their options. The only problem there is next season where the Hawk are already at $150.0 million in salary and only ten players on the books. This includes Gallinari if they guarantee his deal.
They were at $136.0 million before Huerter’s new rookie extension kicks in for next season. Then in the 2023-24 season, the Hawks have already guaranteed $124.0 million for seven players, including Bogdanovic who has a player option in that season.
Next. TLC is a surprising cutdown survivor. dark
This means that it is likely that the first player on the trading block this season will in fact be Gallinari. The non-guaranteed component of his deal will appeal to so many teams. The Hawks will have also seen what potential ceiling Johnson has and will be in a position to make an informed decision as to their future, which is most probably a Gallinari trade.