The Atlanta Hawks expect to enter NBA free agency next week with about $20 million in salary cap space and three open spots on their roster.
General manager Travis Schlenk says the team will be in no rush to spend that money.
”We will not be quickly out of the gate looking to sign guys
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”We’ll kind of sit back and see what the market dictates. … We’ll kind of play a waiting game and see how the market plays out.”
The market is expected to generate stiff competition for top free agents LeBron James, Paul George and Chris Paul. The Hawks are expected to be observers in those bidding wars.
The Hawks may have had more interest in bargain shopping for affordable help on their front line before veterans Dewayne Dedmon and Mike Muscala exercised their contract options to return next season.
Guards Malcolm Delaney and Damion Lee are eligible to become free agents.
The rebuilding Hawks’ focus is on their youth. The team traded No. 3 pick Luka Doncic to Dallas for Young, the No. 5 pick. Atlanta also acquired a 2019 first-round pick from Dallas in Thursday night’s deal.
Only one day later, Young already was featured on billboards around Atlanta. Clearly, Young is seen as the much-needed new face of the franchise as well as the future floor leader of the team.
Young wore long pants – but no socks – to Monday’s news conference after making a fashion statement by wearing shorts to the draft. He said he had not yet seen himself on the new billboards.
Asked if he’s ready to handle the expectations that come with being a top-five pick, Young said ”I’m just a piece of the puzzle. I’m not the whole thing. … I’m looking forward to working with everybody.”
Schlenk and new coach Lloyd Pierce said they expect starting point guard Dennis Schroder to remain with the team and share time with Young.
While back in his native Germany to play with his national team this summer, Schroder expressed a desire to be traded.
Schlenk said he talked with Schroder about the quote and said ”they just took snippets of his answers.”
Pierce said Schroder is on board with the Hawks’ rebuilding plan.
”Talking to Dennis, he’s excited,” Pierce said. ”He was excited about who we were going to end up with in the draft and he’s excited about where we’re headed.”
Pierce said it will be important for Young to have Schroder as a mentor
Nick Nelson Jersey Raiders , just as former Hawks guard Jeff Teague set the example when Schroder entered the league.
”I think Dennis will be a tremendous role model,” Pierce said. ”We’ve talked already about him and Trae not only co-existing but him being a leader for Trae and helping him on the court.”
The Hawks still could be receptive to trade inquiries about Schroder. Atlanta’s cap space could be more useful in a trade, possibly involving Schroder for a veteran, than in free agency.
Huerter will not play this summer following surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right hand. He wore a brace on his right hand on Monday but said he is recovering quickly and hopes to be cleared before his projected three-month rehabilitation period.
Huerter attended Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York, with pitcher Ian Anderson, the Atlanta Braves 2016 first-round pick.
Huerter made no friends with Braves fans when he said he is a San Francisco Giants fan and added ”Hopefully I can go to a game and see the Giants beat them.”
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When Bruce Irvin got a multimillion dollar signing bonus after being a first-round draft pick in 2012, the idea of getting his college degree was the last thing on his mind.
A former high school dropout who spent time in jail and dealing drugs while growing up in Atlanta, Irvin later decided to set an example for his 5-year-old son Brayden and show that he is more than just a professional athlete.
”When kids come up to him, they can say that his dad was a good football player and he can stop them and say he was a good football player but he also got his associate’s degree, got his bachelor’s degree
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From the troublesome childhood that he detailed last year in a Player’s Tribune article titled ”The Things I’ve Done ,” Irvin has developed into a leader on the Raiders and in the community, earning a nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
He will have made more than $36 million playing football at the end of this season, winning one Super Bowl with Seattle and earning plenty of other accolades. But walking on stage to get his degree back in May goes right near the top of his accomplishments.
”The odds were stacked up against me to get my bachelor’s degree. It was a surreal moment,” he said. ”I kind of put it up there with the Super Bowl, neck and neck. Super Bowl probably would have been better if we’d won two in a row. It was a great moment, not only for me but for my son and my family. I’m glad I got to experience it.”
Irvin was one of several NFL players who earned college degrees this offseason, taking advantage of a program negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement that provides tuition reimbursement for players seeking to continue their education.
Players can earn up to $60,000 in tuition reimbursement based on their time in the league. Arthur McAfee, the senior vice president of NFL Player Engagement, said about two dozen players each year earn their degrees through the program. He added that the increased time off under the current collective bargaining agreement has made the process easier for players interested in getting their degrees.
”We try to find the appropriate balance between the players having opportunity to go back as well as manage their offseason schedule
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The most high-profile case this offseason was Kansas City Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who became the first active NFL player to get his medical degree when he earned his from McGill University in Montreal just over a year after signing a $41.25 million, five-year contract.
”When I got drafted in 2014 it was a promise that I made to myself that I was going to keep grinding and keep pushing to combine my two passions at the highest level and show people it was possible,” Duvernay-Tardif said.
Duvernay-Tardif, a sixth-round pick in 2014, did most of his graduate work in the offseason, taking advantage of the increased time off for players provided in the current CBA.
Duvernay-Tardif did take one orthopedic exam during a bye week in 2015, spending a flight back from London studying while his teammates celebrated. While some teams were wary of his desire to become a doctor, Duvernay-Tardif said Chiefs coach Andy Reid has always been extremely supportive.
”Coach Reid it was the total opposite. It was like `If you’re here and you still have medicine as a plan B it’s because you really love to play football and I’m going to help you to the best of my ability,”’ Duvernay-Tardif said. ”That’s what he’s been doing for the past four years. Every season at the end of the season during our exit meeting he’s been asking me `what’s next for you doc?’ and we’ve been talking about different clinical rotations and stuff. And his mother actually went to McGill University and was one of the first women to graduate in medicine, so there was a little bit of a connection and I really think that he helped me through the process. I don’t think it would have been possible if it was not for him.”
The Raiders have also been extremely supportive of players pursuing their degrees in the offseason and got to watch four players don their caps and gowns over two weekends this offseason. Star receiver Amari Cooper (Alabama)
Saquon Barkley Giants Jersey , starting right guard Gabe Jackson (Mississippi State) and backup tackle Jylan Ware (Alabama State) all graduated this offseason thanks to the tuition assistance and guidance from the team.
Annelie Schmittel, who works on the Raiders player engagement staff, has been heavily involved in helping the players do what they need to graduate and even went to West Virginia for Irvin’s ceremony earlier this offseason. She hopes the recent graduates serve as role models for young players just entering the league.
”That’s something no one can take away from them,” Schmittel said. ”It’s great having guys like Amari, Bruce, Gabe, starters on this team, veterans who have played in this league a long time and don’t really need a degree but wanted to go back and finish what they started. That’s incredible to see and for us to see because we’re seeing the hard work that they put in. … It’s a really proud moment. We’re really involved in it because it’s such a huge accomplishment for us.”
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