3:09 pm: The Hawks have officially announced in a press release that they’ve signed Dante.
2:08 pm: Big man N’Faly Dante will join the Hawks, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who reports (via Twitter) that the Rockets aren’t matching the two-year, $4.5MM offer sheet Dante signed with Atlanta.
Dante appeared in just four NBA regular season games last season after going undrafted out of Oregon. However, he was a mainstay for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League while on a two-way contract with Houston, averaging 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game across 42 outings at the G League level.
Dante, who will turn 24 in October, earned a two-way qualifying offer from Houston in June, but the Rockets have since filled all of their two-way slots by signing Kevon Harris, Isaiah Crawford, and JD Davison, which was perhaps an indication that they weren’t counting on having Dante back.
The Hawks’ two-year offer sheet to Dante appears to just be worth the minimum salary, but even that modest price was too steep for the Rockets, who are operating just $1.26MM below a first-apron hard cap and can’t add a 15th man on a veteran’s minimum deal without shedding salary. Given the team’s cap situation, Scotto’s report that Houston isn’t matching the Hawks’ offer doesn’t come as a real surprise.
Once they officially add Dante to their roster, the Hawks will have 14 players on standard contracts, with Caleb Houstan reportedly expected to join the team as well. Dante will provide depth in a frontcourt that also includes incumbent center Onyeka Okongwu, offseason addition Kristaps Porzingis, rookie Asa Newell, and third-year big man Mouhamed Gueye.
Dante is the first two-way restricted free agent to sign a qualifying offer since Tyrone Wallace did so in 2018. Wallace was a Clippers RFA who signed an offer sheet with the Pelicans and had it matched by L.A.
The Hawks, meanwhile, will become the first team to sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet that goes unmatched since they did it themselves with Kings RFA Bogdan Bogdanovic in 2020.
Atlanta just needs to figure out the backup PG spot. Bufkin isn’t it. Promote Wallace and find another young PG on a two way contract.
Atlanta has done a great job this off-season.
A+
Krejci?
I suppose. I always considered him a point forward, playing the SF spot and bringing it up along with playing some backups PG minutes. I like Krejci. I would just trade Bufkin for any young PG prospect(20-22). Plus Krejci is not young(25)
Point guard, point forward, point center, what’s the difference? If a team needs point-something, it doesn’t have to be a point guard.
Playing on a wing makes Krejci’s game simpler and leaner, maybe it’s his best role, maybe he’ll expand it and will handle the basketball more.
It makes a huge difference. Those are all different type of players. Do you know what a pure point guard is? So a player like John Stockton, Paul Pressley and Jokic are all the same type of player to run an offense for a season? So I guess by your standards then having a backup PG is pointless. Do you know the difference between what a starter, backup and prospect means?
Also Krejci is not the answer of a full time backup PG for the long run.
This position less era were any player can play where they want is ruining basketball.
Everyone pretending to be Magic Johnson, just because you are tall and want to be a PG doesn’t mean you should be. Everyone doing what Ben Simmons is doing ughh
So you probably think LeBron should have been playing PG spot instead of where he played in his Cleveland years?
You probably love a 6’4 PF like Roddy
I know see you are a new age fan
“This position less era where any player can play where they want is ruining basketball.”
Well, it’s not me, but the NBA teams who are pushing the positionless basketball. And they let different players handle the basketball, regardless of their height, who they guard on defense, or what position they were playing in college.
Draymond Green, Avdija, Jalen Johnson.
I wasn’t the one who drafted all those ball-handlers for Brooklyn, their FO did. And maybe the time will show they were absolute fools for doing that, we’ll see :)
In the old days, it was a small player with skills + a lot of big guys, then in the 90-s and 2000s the league became more skill-focused. Now it seems like teams want size and some on-balls skills at the same time. And everybody has to shoot 3s too, lol.
If anything, not being dependent on a playmaking, pass-first PG is desired by many teams. Who was OKC’s PG? Shai is not a PG really. He’s shot-first, he likes the play off the ball a fair bit and only finish the play, not set it up.
Some will say “Prime Chris Paul is a superior ball-handling table-setting guard than SGA”. Absolutely, I agree with that statement. But in the context of OKC’s team over the last 2 years, they didn’t seem to miss a player like CP3 at all, did they?
But not everyone can be OKC, of course.
Boston are kind of like that, too. That team does not revolve around a PG.
As for LeBron, he has shown many times that he can play with a ball in his hands, and also benefit from someone else doing it. He looked like he was very much enjoying playing with Luka after the trade.
Krejci might not be the answer for a backup PG, sure. But it looks like Atlanta are not too occupied with answering that question in the first place.
Go out there Toni Kukoc, go play PG because you can dribble ughhh. Silly thinking
I’ve also lost most of any hope for Bufkin. Kennard and NAW can also initiate the offense if needed.
Wallace is even older.
If Trae Young goes down then what Vit and Keaton Wallace? Yikes
They need a better backup PG who has experience winning and a young PG prospect. Vit can play minutes at SF, SG and the PG spot in pinches. Trading Bufkin and some 2nds for a backup and or the prospect
Dante is a real Center. And Hawks need size.
All teams should carry a rim protector. You don’t even have to play him all the time. But you will need one at times. 12 man roster should have a rim protector on it.
And teams also needs veterans (30+) to teach the young guys stuff. The NBA is pushing them out when they become bench players in favor of a random scrub shooting a 3. Nobody working out, everyone on PEDs, no dribbling or defence just running down a court watching your friend shoot. Now I see why these players today cannot play 82 games
Dante looking inspiring but with new additions and several year veterans of big men, he wasn’t going to get minutes and probably stashed in Rio. This may come back to haunt Houston by letting Dante walk. He should find minutes with Atlanta at some point. He’s similar to Adams and that isn’t a horrible thing. Adams comes into the game as a rim protector and rebounds while guys like Sengun and KD take a minute to rest. Dante should provide that type of role with the Hawks