The Atlanta Hawks are in the midst of a rebuild and, as such, have salary cap room to spare this summer in trades. The Denver Nuggets missed the playoffs by 1 game last season and are looking to trim their salary cap bill for 2018-19.
That combination may lead to the Nuggets trading little-used forward Kenneth Faried to the Hawks before the 2018 Draft. Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Hawks may be willing to help the Nuggets part with Faried for the right price:
The Nuggets are aggressively seeking to shed salary by trading forward Kenneth Faried, and the Hawks are willing to accommodate them for the right price, according to a person with knowledge of the NBA trade market.
The Hawks would seek draft picks, young players or both as part of a deal with the Nuggets or any other team that wants to reduce payroll. The Nuggets own the No. 14 overall pick in next week’s draft, and their expendable young players include recent draft picks Malik Beasley and Tyler Lydon.
The Nuggets are looking to reduce their salary commitments for next season. Faried is owed $13.8 million in 2018-19, the final year of his deal, and he fell out of Denver’s rotation this season with a career-low 461 minutes played.
The Hawks could easily absorb Faried’s salary under the cap while acquiring more assets for their rebuild. The Hawks are projected to have about $19 million in cap space next season. That figure includes the salaries for their pending draft picks and assumes that veterans Dewayne Dedmon and Mike Muscala will exercise their one-year contract options for 2018-19.
In next Thursday’s Draft, the Hawks have the Nos. 3, 19, 30 and 34 overall picks. Aside from Dedmon and Muscala, the Hawks also have four other free agents — Malcolm Delaney, Damion Lee, Josh Magette and Andrew White III.
Hawks GM Travis Schlenk told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the cap outlook for teams next season could put more deals on the horizon for Atlanta:
Schlenk has said the Hawks project that as many as 16 teams will be subject to the luxury tax next season, which means several likely will be looking for cost-saving trades. The Hawks are one of a few teams projected to have the salary-cap space necessary to easily facilitate trades in which players with large contracts are acquired.
