Atlanta Hawks enter 2019-20 looking to build on young core

Predictions

The Atlanta Hawks stick around in the playoff discussion before eventually falling short while going 34-48, a decent improvement of five victories while positioning themselves to be a player in a 2020 free agency class that will lack the star power of this summer’s group, but could contain key pieces that could push Atlanta to the next level.

The Hawks have the expiring deals of Chandler Parsons ($25.1 million), Evan Turner ($18.61 million) and Allen Crabbe ($18.5 million) coming off the books and as of right now have only $19.9 million in guaranteed on their cap sheet for 2020-21.

They do have the rookie deal options on Trae Young ($6.57 million), John Collins ($4.14 million) and Kevin Huerter ($2.76 million) to consider and will almost definitely exercise all three of those in the coming weeks before the start of the season.

DeAndre’ Bembry and Damian Jones are on expiring rookie deals, while Alex Len and Vince Carter are also on expiring contracts.

It’s not a terrific free agent market coming up in 2020. Anthony Davis has a player option for 2020-21, as do DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond. The leading unrestricted free agents as of right now will be Draymond Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Danilo Gallinari, Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon.

From the 2016 draft class, Ben Simmons, Jamal Murray and Caris LeVert have already signed extensions, with Pascal Siakam, Buddy Hield and Jaylen Brown among the list of pending restricted free agents — provided none of them get extensions done by Oct. 21.

In any case, the Hawks project to enter next offseason with an improved young core, a lottery pick likely in the 9-12 range — barring some lucky bounces — and a large helping of hope for the future.