The Atlanta Hawks just went on a magical run to the Eastern Conference Finals this season after being one of the worst teams in the NBA for several years. The Hawks have drafted well in recent years and added several key pieces in free agency last offseason.
Of course, having so many quality players means things are going to get expensive soon. Hawks owner Tony Ressler just addressed this and flat-out admitted they're not going to be able to keep everybody they want because of the financial situation.
Via The Athletic's Chris Kirschner:
“It’s complicated, of course, because what we’re trying to convince people is we’re building something, but let’s not kid ourselves, our job is to run a good business,” Ressler said. “What we are trying to achieve is literally keeping our best players, as you could imagine, trying to make clear that we’re going to have to spend a lot more than we have this season. We fully expect that. I’m not sure we’re going to be able to keep every single player that we want to keep. Pretty good bet, pretty good assumption we will not. But I do think we have several years that we should be able to build some real stability. If the question is are we scared of the tax, are we scared of going into the tax? I’m scared of paying the tax and not being a good team, yes, that I’m scared of, but if we have to go into the tax to be a great team for a period of time, so be it.”
This is frustrating to hear as a fan, but Ressler is definitely being honest here. The Hawks aren't going to pay big money to all the guys they have, so there will likely be consolidating moves in the near future. Trae Young is the obvious keeper as the centerpiece of the roster and a definite max contract guy, but youngsters John Collins, De'Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter are all young guys coming up on their second contracts who aren't untouchable. Atlanta also has relatively expensive veterans in Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Clint Capela on the roster.
A decision has to be made on Collins this offseason as he hits restricted free agency. While Ressler hopes to re-sign Collins, his comments about max contracts and wanting to come to a “fair agreement” with the young big man make it sound like there's a level the Hawks won't want to go with his deal. While Collins would like to be back, he wants to get paid.
Atlanta is ahead of schedule with its rebuild, but there will be some especially tough decisions to make because of it in the coming years.
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