The Atlanta Hawks open training camp with the maximum 20-man roster. Out of this group, 15 players have full salary protection for the 2016-17 season, while two have partial guarantees and three were signed to non-guaranteed deals. Here is the breakdown:
Full Salary Protection: Kent Bazemore, DeAndre Bembry, Malcolm Delaney, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dwight Howard, Kris Humphries, Jarrett Jack, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, Taurean Prince, Dennis Schroder, Mike Scott, Thabo Sefolosha, Tiago Splitter, Walter Tavares
Partial Salary Protection: Matt Costello, Mike Muscala
No Salary Protection: Will Bynum, Ryan Kelly, Richard Solomon
Roster Outlook: For the most part, the Hawks' opening night regular season roster is set as the 15th position on the squad will probably come down to a competition between Tavares, Muscala and Kelly. Tavares played in just 11 games in 2015-16 as he spent a lot of time working on his game in the D-League. Muscala has shown the ability to hit long-range shots, which might give him the edge for the 15th roster spot. Muscala has played with the Hawks during his first three years in the NBA and last season he appeared in 60 games. Kelly has spent the last three years with Los Angeles Lakers and as the newcomer he will need to impress management and the coaching staff from Day 1 of training camp to have a chance to win a roster spot. Costello, Bynum and Solomon will likely be waived late in the preseason.
2016-17 Salary Cap Outlook: The Hawks will start the season about $4.1 million over the salary cap and $14.9 million under the luxury tax line.
