1:10 pm: Djurisic’s deal is a three-year contract worth his minimum salary, totaling about $5.95MM, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who tweets that the first year will be guaranteed.
12:57 pm: The Hawks have added a draft-and-stash player to their standard roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed wing Nikola Djurisic.
Djurisic, 21, was selected by Atlanta with the 43rd overall pick of the 2024 draft and spent last season playing in the G League with the College Park Skyhawks.
While he contributed 10.5 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game in 32 NBAGL outings for the Skyhawks, the 6’8″ forward struggled with turnovers (3.1 per game) and his shooting efficiency. He made just 37.9% of his field goal attempts, including only 18-of-101 (17.8%) three-pointers.
As Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com notes (via Twitter), Atlanta had been carrying 12 players on standard contracts and didn’t have enough room below the luxury tax line to add three more veterans on minimum-salary deals, so having Djurisic on a rookie-minimum contract will be advantageous from a cap/tax perspective.
Because Djurisic’s contract will count toward the cap for just $1,272,870 in 2025/26, the Hawks should have enough flexibility to sign two more veterans to minimum deals without surpassing the luxury tax threshold.
Djurisic’s contract will be completed using the second-round pick exception. Chouinard adds (via Twitter) that he wouldn’t be surprised if Serbian youngster spends most or all of next season in the G League.
The Hawks trading up one spot to not draft Pelle Larsson was a huge miss
Hawks will be just fine without Larsson.