Phoenix Suns forward chosen as ‘dream’ free agent target for Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks are expected to have one of the most interesting offseasons of any NBA team in the league. They won the draft lottery in shocking fashion and now hold the top pick in the NBA draft. They have a decision to make regarding the future of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray’s backcourt, and they have to decide the future of players like Clint Capela and De’. Andrew Hunter. There will potentially be a lot of moving parts in Atlanta this offseason and the team could look very different when the new season begins in October.

While most of the conversation on the Hawks has been about what trades they might make and who they would take with the No. 1 pick, there hasn’t been much discussion about what they might do in free agency and a lot of that has to do with the fact that the Hawks don’t have a lot of cap space to work with this offseason. Here’s a nice summary of the Hawks’ financial situation from ESPN’s Bobby Marks:

The Hawks avoided the luxury tax this season, opting to trade starter John Collins last offseason as part of a salary cut. This summer, Atlanta is once again facing not only the tax threshold of $171 million, but also the first apron of $178.7 million. Including the first pick in the draft, Atlanta has a salary of $176 million. Due to the unlikely bonuses of Murray, Clint Capela and De’Andre Hunter, they are above the first apron. Barring a trade, the Hawks will move past the second apron if they re-sign Bey, who tore his left ACL in March. Atlanta will likely extend him a one-year qualifying offer worth $8.4 million by June 29, making him a restricted free agent. Atlanta has some flexibility with the non-guaranteed contracts of Mathews and Bruno Fernando. Atlanta has until June 29 to exercise Mathews’ $2.2 million team option and secure Fernando’s $2.7 million contract. Due to their finances, the Hawks will only have the minimum veteran exception to use in free agency. They have a large $23 million trade exception that expires on July 7. »

With that in mind, there could be some beneficial free agent deals if Atlanta makes room for them and Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley mentioned Phoenix Suns forward Royce O’Neale as the “dream” free agent for the Hawks this offseason:

“The Atlanta Hawks are expected to have modest spending power this summer. They will be armed with either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $12.9 million or the taxpayer MLE of 5.2 million dollars, and they’ll have a lot of questions to answer anyway.

Whether or not the Hawks decide to keep Trae Young, they need to improve defensively. They ranked 27th in defensive rating and also weren’t a particularly good three-point shooting team (36.4 percent, 17th overall).

Getting a veteran three-and-D winger like Royce O’Neale would be a realistic dream, especially since he would take a $9.5 million salary cut starting in 2023-24.

O’Neale, 30, had a plus-13.8 on/off differential with the Phoenix Suns (98th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass). The Suns were 6.5 points per 100 possessions better on defense with O’Neale on the floor. Add in the 37.0 percent he shot from three last season, and he would be an ideal free agent for Atlanta. »

I think O’Neale would be a good addition to the Hawks because of his defensive versatility and three-point shooting ability. O’Neale also knows Hawks head coach Quin Snyder from their days together in Utah. One of Atlanta’s main goals this offseason should be to become better and more athletic on the defensive side of the floor and O’Neale certainly provides that. He will likely have a lot of suitors and might not be very cheap.