2017 Atlanta Hawks

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, David Kay and Peter Christian of the The Sports Bank. Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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Atlanta Hawks (Last Year: 43-39)

2017-18 Projected Depth Chart:

C: Dwight Howard

PF:

SF: Taurean Prince/Kent Bazemore

SG: #Tim Hardaway Jr./DeAndre’ Bembry

PG: Dennis Schroeder/Malcolm Delaney

NBA Free Agents:

#SG-Tim Hardaway Jr. (RFA)

^SF-Mike Dunleavy (TO)

^PF-Ryan Kelly (TO)

PF-Paul Millsap (UFA)

G/F-Thabo Sefolosha (UFA)

PF-Ersan Ilyasova (UFA)

PF-Kris Humphries (UFA)

C-Mike Muscala (UFA)

PG-Jose Calderon (UFA)

2017-18 Team Salary: Approximately $62.4 million

NBA Offseason Team Needs:

1. Power Forward: Paul Millsap has already announced that he is opting out of the final year of his contract to test the open market. If he chooses to leave Atlanta, that leaves a massive hole at power forward as the team doesn’t have any other options and needs to land a go-to scorer. The Hawks have the cap flexibility to sign a big-name guy, but whom will they be able to land?

2. Shooting Guard: Tim Hardaway Jr. had a solid season, but now a restricted free agent, he is due a nice-sized extension. That could potentially run anywhere from $12-16 million per year, and the Hawks need to decide if they want to pay him that type of money or pursue a replacement in free agency.

3. Frontcourt Depth: With Dwight Howard’s playing time diminishing this past season and no power forward on the roster, Atlanta needs to find options inside. This should be the Hawks’ target with their first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.