September 4: One day after being signed, both Johnson and Murray have been waived by the Hawks, per a team press release.
As we noted below, the procedural move will make each player eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with the College Park Skyhawks to open 2025/26.
September 3: The Hawks have officially signed forward Javan Johnson and guard Dwight Murray Jr. to their offseason roster, the team announced today in a press release.
Johnson, who went undrafted in 2023 after playing college ball at Troy, Iowa State, and DePaul, has spent most of his first two professional seasons in the G League with the Santa Cruz Warriors. He also had a brief stint in 2024 with the Gladiadores de Anzoátegui in Puerto Rico.
In 49 total appearances last season for Santa Cruz, Johnson averaged 13.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 26.9 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .417/.374/.912. The College Park Skyhawks – Atlanta’s G League affiliate – acquired the 26-year-old’s returning rights last month in a three-team trade that also involved the Salt Lake City Stars.
Murray, who went undrafted in 2023 too, played in Montenegro for KK Mornar in 2023/24, then spent last season with the Skyhawks, starting 29 of 43 games for Atlanta’s NBAGL team. A native of Austell, Georgia, the 6’0″ guard put up averages of 9.0 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per contest and a shooting line of .391/.315/.762.
While the Hawks didn’t provide any details on the contracts signed by Johnson and Murray, it’s safe to assume both deals include Exhibit 10 language, which will line them up to earn bonuses worth up to $85,300 if they’re waived by Atlanta and then spend at least 60 days with College Park. Both Johnson and Murray would qualify as returning-rights players for the Skyhawks.
The Hawks now officially have 20 players under contract, one shy of the offseason limit.
That’s confusing.
So the Hawks do this to own their rights while they play in the G league? Otherwise they would be free agents playing on their G league team?
Doing this prevents another team from swooping in with a bigger offer than the Hawks would give them because now they have their rights for the next year?
Hey Gary,
It’s pretty much only about giving the players a bonus for playing for College Park this season. The Hawks don’t control their rights — they’ll both be unrestricted NBA free agents in a couple days after clearing waivers. At that point, either player could theoretically sign with a different NBA team. The majority of G League players are NBA free agents, with some exceptions (players on standard NBA contracts or two-way deals, etc.).
OK, that makes sense. So my follow up question would be, does this bonus give the players a sense of allegiance towards the Hawks?
If not, Why would a team do this and give the players a bonus? Why not just let them sign with the G league team and save the money?
Or does this mean that it requires that bonus to get the guy?
They’ll go to the team and play for their G league affiliate that gives them the bonus?
But that doesn’t make sense either because you say they’re still free agents?
So I’m still confused but I know you’re busy. Answer at your leisure if you have time later. Someone else may step in also and explain it. Thanks Rory.
I can’t speak to the players’ mindsets regarding a sense of allegiance, but they’re still part of the organization by playing for Hawks’ G League affiliate, even if they’re technically NBA free agents.
Teams give out the bonuses to incentivize the players to play with them, and they only get the bonus if they spend at least 60 days with the affiliate. Every team does it, though the bonuses aren’t all the same — there’s a reason we phrase it as “up to $85,300” and not just the number. The bonuses don’t count against the salary cap.
BTW, in my previous response, Mashack landing with the Memphis Hustle would fall under the “etc.” portion of the exceptions (draft pick whose NBA rights are already controlled by a team).
Excellent Rory. OK, great, thanks for responding with these answers.