With NBA free agency scheduled to start on Friday, November 20th, the rumor mill is hot, and the Hawks are heavily involved, as they should be, given they are scheduled to have over $40 million in cap space available. One of the more intriguing names Atlanta has been linked to recently is shooting guard Joe Harris, formerly of the Brooklyn Nets. Sam Amico reported today that the Hawks are preparing a significant offer for the 2019 three-point champion.
With significant room under salary cap, Hawks prepared to make significant offer to Nets free agent Joe Harris, league sources tell @AmicoNews @Outkick
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) November 17, 2020
Over the last several years, Harris has become perhaps the best three-point shooter in the game. He led the league in 3 PT FG% in 2019, making them at a 47.4% clip. Last year, he averaged a career-high in points (14.5) while draining 42.4% of his threes.
The Hawks were an interesting team as far as their three-point shooting last season. They loved to shoot the ball from behind the arc but finished dead last in efficiency, making them at a 33% clip. That’s unacceptable, especially for a Trae Young-led team. Young is constantly drawing double and triple teams and finding open teammates. The shots just haven’t been falling. Bringing in a sniper like Harris would instantly make the Hawks substantially better in that area.
Harris will undoubtedly make the Hawks better, but Travis Schlenk still has to make sure not to overpay. Atlanta has extensions for John Collins and Trae Young coming up, and they would also like to be players in free agency next offseason when there are many more superstar players. So what exactly would a significant offer for Harris look like? Judging by past contracts for some of the league’s best shooters, I would expect Harris to command somewhere around $15 million annually, probably over three or four years. That should be plenty doable for the Hawks. We’ll see in a few days how much truth there is to this rumor.
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