A quick look ahead.
We’re into the stretch run of the season.
The dust has settled on the All-Star break, and the Hawks are looking to use the final two months of the season as a runway to build for the future.
Of course, the team still has playoff aspirations despite the untimely loss of Jalen Johnson, but clearly the main motivations now are the incorporation of the recently acquired players and the growth of young players like Zaccharie Risacher and Dyson Daniels.
With the waiving of David Roddy and Nah’Shon ‘Bones’ Hyland, the team opened up an extra roster spot for the remainder of the season. However, some transactions have a deadline prior to the end of the season. Let’s walk through some of the important dates to keep in mind as it pertains to the Hawks:
March 1
March 1 is the final date a player can be waived and the Hawks be able to sign him to allow him to appear in the postseason (both the Play-In Tournament and the Playoffs). Any player waived after this date the Hawks could still sign, but their season would effectively end on April 13.
March 4
Three days later, the Hawks will have to decide on if they want to make a new signing to a two-way contract. As it stands, the Hawks have all three slots filled (Keaton Wallace, Dominick Barlow, and Daeqwon Plowden), but the Hawks could convert one of those three to a standard contract — filling the 15th full roster spot — and open up a slot.
You may remember this is exactly what the Hawks did last season, giving Trent Forrest a nice guaranteed salary to open space for Dylan Windler right at the metaphorical final buzzer.
April 13
This is the final day of the NBA season, but it’s also the final day to convert a two-way contract into a standard contract. As a reminder, two-way players are ineligible to play in the postseason. This is the scenario the Hawks found themselves in last year, having committed to keep Vit Krejci on a two-way contract in order to retain his restricted free agent rights.
Again, the team would have to either hold open a standard roster spot or create one by waiving a player by April 10 (allowing him to clear waivers prior to the final day).
May 12
The NBA Draft Lottery will take place on this day. The Hawks won’t have their own draft pick due to the original Dejounte Murray trade, but they will own the Lakers’ pick no matter what plus the Sacramento Kings’ pick stemming from the Kevin Huerter trade, should it land outside the top-12.
It’s very possible the resurgent Kings have made the playoffs by this point — making the lottery moot — but if the Kings, for example, lose in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament, the Hawks will have to sweat out a good ping pong ball result on this date.
June 13
This is when Game 4 of the NBA Finals is scheduled — AKA the day the Hawks will lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy in a sweeping playoff triumph! (look, a man can dream)
June 25-June 26
For the second year in a row, the NBA Draft will be spread out over two days. As mentioned above, the Hawks will have either one or two first-round picks, but they do not possess a second-round pick (yet, anyway. Anything can happen).