Hawks offseason primer: Trae Young’s future, Dejounte Murray and Onyeka Okongwu extensions, and more

The Atlanta Hawks made high expectations for themselves when they traded three first-round picks for Dejounte Murray. They are more or less the same team record-wise they were in 2021-22, and still have mostly the same core from 2020-21. Despite stealing two games from the Celtics, the roster is still far from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals again.

The late-season coaching change from Nate McMillan to Quin Snyder suggests that the organization still believes in the core. That’s not to say that they won’t make any significant changes, but that they still believe they can build a sustainable winning foundation around Trae Young. The rest of their top players aren’t untouchable and tinkering could be made with their spending starting to catch up.

Here is a preview of the 2023 offseason for the Atlanta Hawks.

State of the roster

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Atlanta could be set to have a low-maintenance offseason after already getting most of their work done. They are entering the offseason with a full 15-man roster, including their first-round pick, after extending Bogdan Bogdanovic to a four-year, $68 million extension. They could go into the year with the roster but have some flexibility to add more players. They have four players on non-guaranteed contracts who could be waived in favor of more talented players.

The Hawks are entering the offseason roughly $12.5 million over the luxury tax threshold. They won’t be able to finish the season under the tax with all eight of their highest-paid players still on the roster. If avoiding the tax is an objective like it was this previous season, a trade involving one of John Collins, Clint Capela, or Bogdan Bogdanovic could be the move.

If the Hawks continue to tread around .500 next season then we could start hearing speculation on the future of Young. The smoke surrounding Young’s future has grown over the season and Snyder’s arrival could indicate an organizational shift in direction. According to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, the Hawks front office have the green light to do whatever it wants with the roster, which could include trading Young.

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Murray is also expected to become an unrestricted free agency after this season. Are the Hawks ready to potentially double his annual salary for a team that clearly isn’t a contender? This upcoming season is critical because it could be Young and Murray’s last chance to prove they’re a viable backcourt together. It feels like one of them could get moved in the future if the team stagnates.

Rookie scale extension: Onyeka Okongwu and Saddiq Bey

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Onyeka Okongwu will be eligible to sign a rookie-scale extension during the offseason. His minutes have remained at around 20 per game all season but he’s just had the best stretch of his career. Since March 11, he’s scored in double figures in all but two games on excellent efficiency. Okongwu was probably selected with the idea that he would succeed Clint Capela, and his development could be encouraging enough to keep betting on that eventual outcome.

What’s also encouraging is his increase in free throw attempts. He’s had three games with at least six attempts per game, including one where he went 11 for 12. He’s also extended his range from beyond the paint. It’s clear that he was being underutilized all these years and Snyder is now using him correctly.

The market for non-All-Star centers coming off rookie-scale extensions isn’t particularly robust. Recent examples include Robert Williams III getting four years, $48 million, and Wendell Carter Jr. getting four years, $50 million. Okongwu could be looking at a higher version of those deals if he were to extend this offseason.

Saddiq Bey is also eligible to sign a rookie-scale extension. The Hawks are among the league’s least frequent three-point shooting teams and brought Bey in to help with that. He’s been playing 25 minutes per game and is having was having one of the best shooting stretch of his career. That is on a lower volume but also in a more spacious offense than he had in Detroit.

It’s unclear if the Hawks are prepared to commit to Bey yet despite how well he’s been playing for them. He will be seeking a lucrative extension this summer but it’s still early to tell what kind of role he will have long-term in Atlanta.

Extension candidate: Dejounte Murray

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Dejounte Murray has one year left on his deal and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. He could avoid free agency if he and the Hawks agree to an extension at some point next season. He will be eligible to extend for a maximum of four years, $111.1 million under the new extension limits. This is a $16 million increase in the total salary he can extend for more than the previous extension limits allowed.

The Hawks surely would love to secure Murray on such an extension since it’s well below the maximum. However, he might not be in a rush to get extended since he will have until June 30, 2024 to sign one. He seems likelier to play out the year so he can potentially sign for more in the 2024 offseason.

It will be fascinating to see how the Hawks intend to fit a new Murray deal into their already-loaded books. Young, Collins, Capela, Hunter, and Bogdanovic are set to earn a combined $131 million in 2024-25, roughly $40 million below the projected luxury tax for that season. New deals for Murray, Okongwu, and Bey could push the Hawks well over the luxury tax and second apron.

2023-24 SALARY SITUATION

Players rostered: 15

Guaranteed salaries: $166.4 million

Non-guaranteed salaries: $8.1 million

Total salary: $174.5 million

Luxury tax space: $12.5 million over the tax

Apron space: $9.2 million over the apron

Second apron space: $751,000

Exceptions:

Taxpayer Mid-level: $5 million

Justin Holiday trade exception: $6,292,440 (expires February 9, 2024)

Maurice Harkless trade exception: $2,564,980 remaining (expires September 27, 2023)

Kevin Huerter trade exception: $692,429 remaining (expires July 6, 2023)

Jock Landale trade exception: $46,120 (expires June 30, 2023)

Trae Young

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $40,064,220

Remaining salary guaranteed: $178,063,200 through 2026-27

Additional notes:

2026-27 salary is a player option worth $49 million

15 percent trade bonus currently valued at $543,120

John Collins

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $25,340,000

Remaining salary guaranteed: $78,500,000 through 2025-26

Additional notes:

Clint Capela

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $20,616,000

Remaining salary guaranteed: $42,881,280 through 2024-25

Additional notes:

DeAndre Hunter

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $20,089,286

Remaining salary guaranteed: $90,000,000 through 2026-27

Additional notes:

Bogdan Bogdanovic

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $18,700,000

Remaining salary guaranteed: $51,980,000 through 2025-26

Additional notes:

Dejounte Murray

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $18,214,000

Remaining salary guaranteed: $17,714,000

Additional notes:

$500,000 in annual likely incentives, $1 million in annual unlikely incentives

Extension-eligible throughout 2023-24 for up to four years, $111.1 million

Onyeka Okongwu

(AP Photo/Hakim Wright Sr.)

2023-24 salary: $8,109,063

Remaining salary guaranteed: $8,109,063

Additional notes:

Saddiq Bey

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $4,556,983

Remaining salary guaranteed: $4,556,983

Additional notes:

AJ Griffin

2023-24 salary: $3,712,920

Remaining salary guaranteed: $13,569,977 through 2025-26

Jalen Johnson

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 salary: $2,925,360

Remaining salary guaranteed: $7,436,265 through 2024-25

Bruno Fernando

2023-24 salary: $2,581,522

Remaining salary guaranteed: $0

Additional notes:

Garrison Mathews

2023-24 salary: $2,000,000

Remaining salary guaranteed: $0

Additional notes:

Vit Krecji

2023-24 salary: $1,836,090

Remaining salary guaranteed: $0

Additional notes:

Tyrese Martin

2023-24 salary: $1,719,864

Remaining salary guaranteed: $0

Additional notes:

Aaron Holiday

Cap hold: $1,989,698

Type of free agent: Non Bird (unrestricted)

Trent Forrest

Cap hold: $1,774,999

Type of free agent: Non Bird (restricted)

Donovan Williams

Cap hold: $1,774,999

Type of free agent: Non Bird (restricted)

2023 Pick No. 15

2023-24 salary: $4,033,440

Remaining salary guaranteed: $19,506,913 through 2026-27

Additional notes: HoopsHype and ForTheWin’s draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky has the Hawks selecting Keyonte George with the 15th overall selection in his most recent mock draft.

You can follow Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) on Twitter.

Story originally appeared on HoopsHype