Atlanta Hawks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Hawks Sign Gary Neal To 10-Day Contract

January 18th, 2017 at 3:25pm CST by ChrisCrouse

3:25pm: The signing is official, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

9:08am: The Hawks will sign Gary Neal to a 10-day contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Atlanta will open up a roster spot by trading Mo Williams to the Nuggets.

Marc Stein of ESPN reported over the weekend that the team was “strongly leaning” toward signing the shooting guard. The 32-year-old previously played under coach Mike Budenholzer when Budenholzer was an assistant in San Antonio.

Neal has been playing for the Texas Legends, the D-League affiliate of the Mavericks. He’s played for five teams over his six-year NBA career, including the Wizards last season.

Nuggets Acquire, Waive Mo Williams

January 18th, 2017 at 1:40pm CST by ChrisCrouse

1:40 pm: The deal is official, according to a Hawks’ press release. As part of the deal, Atlanta will gain a $2.2MM trade exception that will expire one year from today.

8:49 am: The Hawks have agreed to send Mo Williams and cash considerations to the Nuggets in exchange for the rights to Cenk Akyol, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. Denver is expected to waive Williams upon arrival.

The point guard’s contract, which is worth $2.2MM, will get the Nuggets within $7.66MM of the salary floor. Wojnarowski notes that the move will save the team roughly $1.0MM in addition to the cash considerations Atlanta will send its way.

Williams hasn’t played this season and while he’s expressed interest in playing again, he hasn’t committed to making a return to the league. Akyol was selected in the 2005 draft but never came stateside. Wojnarowski notes that he’ll likely never play in the NBA.

Lowe’s Latest: Barnes, Howard, Evans

January 18th, 2017 at 12:31pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Zach Lowe of ESPN.com examines the Pelicans‘ roster building strategy and cautions that the team doesn’t have much time to build a championship roster around Anthony Davis in his latest piece. It’s is packed full of noteworthy trade rumors and tidbits, including the story we passed along earlier today about how the Sixers will take a “hard look” at Jrue Holiday in free agency.

Here are more highlights from the piece:

The Pelicans considered making a sizable offer to Harrison Barnes in free agency before deciding to spend their available cap space on multiple players, sources tell Lowe. The scribe adds that Barnes would have considered New Orleans had the team contacted him.
The Hawks and Pelicans had exploratory talks about a Dwight Howard deal a couple weeks ago, but that was before Atlanta pulled all of its players off the trade market. Lowe notes that it’s unclear how interested New Orleans was in the deal and adds that there was not unanimous support to acquire Howard within the organization.
If the Pelicans decide to shake up the front office at the end of the season, Danny Ferry, who is currently serving in an advisory role with the team, is not likely to take over GM duties, sources tell Lowe.
Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday will both be free agents this offseason and Lowe notes that it will be hard for the Pelicans to keep both. The scribe adds that retaining Holiday remains New Orleans’ higher priority.

Hawks Auditioning For Fourth Wing Spot

January 17th, 2017 at 10:26am CST by Luke Adams

With Kyle Korver no longer in the mix, the Hawks are auditioning in-house options for their fourth wing spot, writes Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Newcomer Mike Dunleavy has a chance to earn those minutes, but he’ll have to fight off rookies Taurean Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry.

Hawks May Sign Gary Neal To 10-Day Contract

January 15th, 2017 at 11:08am CST by Arthur Hill

JANUARY 15th, 11:08am: Atlanta would waive Mo Williams if it signs Neal, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders. Williams, who was acquired from the Cavaliers in the Kyle Korver trade last week, underwent surgery on his left leg in October and is officially retired. The Hawks will have to pay the remainder of his $2.2MM contract even if he is released.

JANUARY 14th, 7:34pm: The Hawks are “strongly leaning” toward signing Gary Neal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Atlanta worked out the veteran guard earlier this week and may be ready to give him a 10-day contract.

Neal recently joined the Texas Legends of the D-League (Twitter link). He spent last season with the Wizards, where he averaged 9.8 points and shot .410 from 3-point range in 40 games. The 32-year old has also played for San Antonio, Milwaukee, Charlotte and Minnesota in a six-year NBA career.

The Hawks have an open roster spot to sign Neal after waiving Ryan Kelly last week.

Cavs Send $750K To Hawks In Kyle Korver Deal

January 13th, 2017 at 10:12pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers are sending $750K in cash to the Hawks as part of the Kyle Korver trade, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. As our Salary Cap Snapshot for the Cavs shows, the team has now sent out cash in three separate trades during the 2016/17 league year. Cleveland is eligible to send out another $750K.

Stein’s Latest: Rockets, Cavaliers, Blazers, Pistons

January 13th, 2017 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

ESPN.com’s Marc Stein takes a swing at picking the All-Star starters from each conference and passes along some trade rumors in his latest column. He lists four teams that could be active with the deadline less than six weeks away:

The Rockets‘ hopes of acquiring Mike Dunleavy Jr. fell through this week when the Hawks committed to keeping him, but Houston is still looking for another shooter. GM Daryl Morey tried to get involved when Atlanta was searching for a third team in its deal with Cleveland, and he had interest in acquiring Dunleavy when it looked like he might not report to the Hawks. Sources tell Stein that K.J. McDaniels has surpassed Corey Brewer as the Rocket most likely to be traded. McDaniels has one season left on his current deal at more than $3.3MM, while Brewer is signed for one more more season at $7.6MM.
The Cavaliers have $4.4MM left from their Anderson Varejao trade exception, which will expire February 20th. That means a trade for a backup point guard may be just as likely as a veteran free agent signing such as Mario Chalmers, Jarrett Jack or Norris Cole.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has moved ahead of Reggie Jackson on the list of untouchable Pistons in possible trades. Caldwell-Pope is now atop that list alongside Andre Drummond. Detroit is well below .500 since Jackson returned from tendinitis in his left knee in early December. Jackson, whose 5.5 assists per game are the lowest during his time in Detroit, still has three seasons and more than $51MM left on his current deal.
Three Trail Blazers who signed huge offseason deals will become eligible to be traded on Sunday. Keep an eye on whether Portland tries to unload some of the salary it committed to Allen Crabbe, Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard.

Dunleavy Jr. Downplays Desire For Buyout

January 12th, 2017 at 6:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mike Dunleavy Jr. labelled reports that indicated he wanted a buyout from the Hawks “pretty inaccurate” and believes he’ll fit right in with the team, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. The Hawks were hoping to find another team for the 36-year-old swingman when he was included in the deal that delivered sharpshooter Kyle Korver to the Cavaliers, Vivlamore continues. Dunleavy has since received assurances from coach Mike Budenholzer that he’ll get some playing time, though he will not immediately become part of the rotation. “I fit in as far as the way I play,” Dunleavy told Vivlamore. “I move, cut, shoot, pass. That’s the way this team is structured. It’s not a matter of what are you going to do for me or how am I going to fit in. It didn’t take much explaining.”

Hawks Notes: Millsap, Dunleavy, Williams, Wilcox

January 12th, 2017 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Paul Millsap is reportedly off the trade block in Atlanta, but with six weeks to go until this year’s trade deadline, several NBA.com writers and reporters remain unconvinced that the team’s decision is final. David Aldridge, Steve Aschburner, Scott Howard-Cooper, and John Schuhmann are among the scribes who believe there’s still a chance Millsap could be moved by February 23, with Howard-Cooper writing that the phrase “taken off the market” will mean nothing if a team calls the Hawks with an offer that Atlanta likes.

I would have agreed with that view of the Millsap situation after a report surfaced suggesting that the Hawks were telling other teams the big man was unavailable. Telling clubs that Millsap isn’t available is a move that could be used as leverage later, in an effort to get those same teams to improve their offers. Still, Atlanta also reportedly informed Millsap himself that he won’t be dealt, and NBA teams don’t often reverse course on that sort of promise in a matter of weeks — I’d be somewhat surprised if the Hawks move Millsap, though it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Here’s more from out of Atlanta:

Mike Dunleavy Jr., who reported to the Hawks and passed his physical earlier this week, expects to make his debut for the team on Friday, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) spoke to the other veteran acquired in last weekend’s trade by the Hawks, though Mo Williams isn’t expected to report to or play for the club. As Kennedy details, Williams is focused on coaching younger players, and doesn’t seem interested in coming out of retirement as an NBA player anytime soon.
In the wake of a report that Wes Wilcox made a “racially charged joke” at a recent season-ticket holder event, the Hawks general manager has received an undisclosed discipline from the team, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.
According to Spears, this is what Nzinga Shaw, the Hawks’ diversity and inclusion officer, had to say about Wilcox’s comments: “After hearing multiple sides of the story and getting multiple eyewitness accounts of what took place, I am not convinced that what we heard and read in Deadspin is a direct quote that was used. Wes, however, certainly did make his off-color statement, which included elements of describing his wife’s race. People that were in the room could make the assumption that he was using her race for the reason of the comments that followed. We certainly do not approve of this behavior and we are going to handle this manner internally.”

International Notes: Bennett, Greene, Kelly

January 11th, 2017 at 6:38pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Anthony Bennett, who was recently waived by the Nets, may head overseas to pursue his next basketball opportunity, sources tell Sam Amico of Pro Basketball Digest. Amico adds that the former No.1 overall pick is also considering the D-League as an option with an eye on signing a few 10-day contracts with NBA clubs.

Bennett flashed promise at UNLV but struggled mightily during his three stops in the NBA. Amico notes that Bennett’s poor performance during his rookie season played a role in Cleveland’s decision to fire then-GM Chris Grant during the middle of the 2013/14 campaign.

Here are a few more international updates on players with NBA ties:

Former Kings big man Donte Greene, a 2008 first-rounder who last played in 2012, has joined Puerto Rican team Capitanes de Arecibo, according to an announcement from the club (hat tip to Sportando). Greene, who turns 29 next month, said back in August that he continues to hope for one more shot from an NBA team.
Maccabi Kiryat Gat of Israel has released former Nets guard Tyshawn Taylor, according to international journalist David Pick (Twitter links). The team will use the roster spot to bring Josh Selby aboard. Selby, who was the No. 49 pick in the 2011 draft, previously played in Israel for Bnei Herzliya.
Sasha Djordjevic, the coach of Bayern Munich, is recruiting Nicolas Laprovittola to play for his team, Pick reports (Twitter link). Laprovittola was waived by the Spurs last month.
Ryan Kelly has garnered interest from Reggio Emilia, a team in Italy, but it’s unlikely he joins the club as he prefers to pursue NBA opportunities, according to Emilio Carchia of Sportando. The Hawks waived Kelly last week.

Luke Adams contributed to this post