Why the Atlanta Hawks may not sign any more players until the season starts

The Atlanta Hawks have almost completed their roster. They have only one full roster spot left open having signed Trent Forrest to their second two-way spot in the offseason. What complicates matters at the moment is that they are already over the luxury tax threshold with that one roster spot open.

While they have players such as Tyson Etienne and Chris Silva on training camp deals, there is a case for the Hawks to sign one of these players to a full-term deal. However, this is complicated slightly by the fact that the Hawks are over the luxury tax threshold.

While ownership has stated that they will go into the tax for the right player, it is unlikely that they will add another player at the veteran’s minimum. If they do that then they will be more than $2.0 million over the threshold which may not sound like much but if they stay there and they do not perform to expectation, there is a risk of the repeater tax for a losing team next season.

It is not a problem for the Atlanta Hawks to wait until the season unfolds.

The thing about the luxury tax threshold is that a team can start a season over the line but as long as they finish under it, they do not pay anything. So this means that they really have until the trade deadline until they need to make any moves to get under the cap.

If the Hawks have a season that is below expectation then they have a number of expiring deals that they could move. This would put them under the cap without losing any of their core group. However, if they are having a tremendous season then this puts them in a whole different ball game.

As there is no hesitation from ownership to spend the money, the Hawks can make a trade that may see them go deep into the postseason, even into the Finals or even champions. This is not a move that needs to be made for the sake of filling the final roster spot. Remember the Hawks played most of last season with only 14 players.