The Atlanta Hawks look to be losing Delon Wright in free agency
The NBA free agency period has begun where teams are officially allowed to talk to free agents about contracts. They are not allowed to sign until July 6th but as a rule, once a deal has been announced it is very rare that either a team or a player will go back on it. The Atlanta Hawks needed to know where they stood before this period started
To this end, it was crucial for the Hawks to get the Dejounte Murray trade done before the start of this period. Not only did they not have to make a decision on whether to waive Danilo Gallinari, but they also knew what they needed to do in free agency in terms of what positional needs they had to fill. They also, barring extra trades, know how much they have left to spend on their roster.
To this end, they knew that they were going to struggle to keep Delon Wright. They traded for the defensive dynamo last season when they sent Bruno Fernando and Kris Dunn to the Boston Celtics for Tristan Thompson before flipping the big man to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Wright.
The Atlanta Hawks lost Delon Wright to the Washington Wizards.
According to Woj of ESPN, Wright is heading to the Washington Wizards on a two-year deal worth $16.0 million. This deal, worth $8.0 million per season is out of the price range of the Hawks as they are currently structured.
With the Murray trade, they also added a better defender than Wright who has the ability to play with Young and run the second unit. On top of this, they still have Kevin Huerter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin, and potentially Tyrese Martin on the roster with the ability to play the wing position.
With $147.9 million already committed to their roster at the moment with only 10 players signed, they are certainly not in the market to pay this much to a backup. They have many other needs that they need to fill in free agency, and they need to spend their money wisely, even though management is more than happy to go into the tax for the right players.
Next. The impact of Dejounte Murray trade for the Hawks. dark
We wish Wright all the best in the next stage of his career, but not too well, especially when he plays the Hawks