What should the Atlanta Hawks do with Tyrese Martin?

The Atlanta Hawks have decisions to make up and down their roster. This applies to players of the contract ilk of John Collins, all the way down to last year’s second-round pick, Tyrese Martin. The second-year player did not do much in his first season, playing in just 16 games. In 4.1 minutes he averaged 1.3 points and 0.8 assists per game.

Martin was much stronger in his outings for the College Park Skyhawks in the G League. He showed his development potential, averaging 18.0 points, 9,2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 0.9 steals in 33.9 minutes per game.

However, the question is, are the Atlanta Hawks going to get enough out of Martin to retain him next season? This is not a question that is not going to be answered prior to the draft. In fact, it is not going to be answered prior to the 2023 NBA draft. The good news for the Hawks is that they do not have to make a decision on Martin until the 21st of July this year.

So what should the Atlanta Hawks do with Tyrese Martin?

With Martin being a deep-bench player, some may ask what the point of this question. It all comes down to the salary cap situation that the Hawks find themselves in. They are over the luxury cap line and have not made it out of the first round of the past two attempts and some massive extension decisions that they need to make in the coming 12 months.

This means that the Hawks have a month to make the relevant deals that they want to make to reshape their roster. They also have one first-round pick and a second-round pick that they are going to add if they keep their current selections in the upcoming NBA draft.

If they add both of these players and are unable to make any trades then this will put the roster at 16 players, which does not include their two-way contracts. This means that the Hawks can make their selections and then work out which players best fit with the team structures.

It is likely that the Hawks will sign their first-round pick to a deal so Martin will be fighting with the second-round pick for a roster spot. Fortunately for the Hawks, they have Summer League between now and then to work out if they should guarantee Martin’s $1.7 million deal.

So, what should the Hawks do with Martin? They should sit on his deal until they can evaluate players in Summer League and then make a decision. There is no point rushing into any rash moves as Martin’s $1.7 million could mean the difference between a luxury tax bill or not.