Kobe Bufkin Trade, the Atlanta Hawks Upcoming Contract Negotiations, and Nets Cap Update
I examine how the Hawks have positioned themselves well to extend Dyson Daniels, Kristaps Porzingis, and Trae Young. Also, an update on the Nets cap space and salary floor figures.
The Atlanta Hawks are considered to have one of the strongest offseasons. They bolstered their frontcourt by acquiring Kristaps Porzingis for Terance Mann, Georges Niang, and the 22nd pick in the 2025 draft. They also signed one of the best available role players in free agency, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, to a four-year deal.
Possibly their best move of the summer was one that focused on the future: trading the 13th pick of the 2025 draft to the New Orleans Pelicans for the 23rd pick and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick. That selection has the potential to be a lottery pick given how strong the West is. Factor in their recent bad injury luck, and it could even jump into the top four on lottery night.
The Hawks continued their focus on the future yesterday when they agreed to trade Kobe Bufkin to the Brooklyn Nets for cash. The move will give the Hawks more flexibility for the upcoming season. They are now $7.7 million below the luxury tax line with two open roster spots that they could now comfortably fill. They also create a $4.5 million trade exception, but they already have several other bigger ones.
The manner in which the Hawks traded him, essentially giving him away neither with nor for draft equity, suggests they were going to decline his $6.9 million team option for next season. This was all about creating more flexibility for 2026-27, with several contract negotiations for current players incoming over the next year.
The Hawks have been careful not to add much long-term money this offseason. They rounded out their backcourt by signing Luke Kennard, but just to a one-year deal. They signed N’Faly Dante and Nikola Djurisic to minimum contracts that extend into next season but are non-guaranteed. Asa Newell, who is on a rookie-scale contract, and Alexander-Walker, whose annual salary declines next season, are the only players they added with guaranteed money beyond this season.
As of now, the Hawks have 12 players under contract for 2026-27. That includes their own and the Pelicans' first-round pick. Trae Young has a $49 million player option that he could decline during the season to sign a long-term extension. Porzingis will be an unrestricted free agent, while Dyson Daniels is set to be a restricted free agent. The Hawks will want to take care of the latter two players ahead of free agency.
The variance of the Pelicans' draft pick may have played into the Hawks' decision to move on from Bufkin now. A high lottery selection would have a high salary that interferes with their tax flexibility. CapSheets currently estimates the Pelicans pick to be 8th overall, which has $7.4 million salary. It seems like they were likely always going to move on from Bufkin between now and next summer, but the potential of that draft pick being more expensive than him may have expedited that decision.
The Hawks now project with roughly $55 million in luxury tax space for 2026-27 while factoring estimates for their two 2026 first-round picks. That range may be the budget they’re working with towards extensions for Daniels and Porzingis. The Hawks could consider becoming taxpayers if they’re instantly title contenders this season, but they’ll probably look to avoid the tax for as long as possible.
Daniels is currently eligible for a rookie-scale extension until October 20, 2025, at 5 PM CT. That negotiation is the biggest priority for the Hawks right now since they have roughly a month to complete it. Historically, below-maximum rookie-scale extensions get done within the last few hours of the deadline.
Third Apron detailed what a Daniels extension could look like back in May. The Hawks could be looking to extend him at an average of 15-16 percent of the salary cap. The case is its fair compensation for one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, who could be third or fourth on the offensive hierarchy. That would be an identical role, usage, and percentage of the cap to Jaden McDaniels' contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The comparison that Daniels gets the most is Jalen Suggs, who received a five-year, $150 million contract with the Orlando Magic. However, Suggs’ contract is only slightly higher as a percentage of the salary cap than McDaniels’. It’s only bigger in value because the salary cap rose 10 percent this season. Daniels would earn a little more, roughly $154 million in a five-year deal, if his starting salary is worth 16 percent of the salary cap.
The version of Suggs’ contract adjusted for inflation would be five years, $161 million. That represents a 7.3 percent increase, which is the current expected salary cap rise for 2026-27. That may be the target and perhaps the highest reasonable end outcome for Daniels.
The more consequential aspect of Daniels’ contract may be its structure. Any of the contract structures listed would give him a starting salary as low as $26-28 million with standard 8 percent raises. They could also give him flat cap hits like they gave $30 million annual salaries to Jalen Johnson in his five-year, $150 million contract. That structure would pay Daniels $31-32 million annually.
Porzingis would likely be the next priority, but that one could take time. He is extension-eligible all the way until June 30, 2026, the day before free agency begins. The Hawks will likely want to see him play and how well he fits with this group before committing to him. It isn’t a foregone conclusion that he’ll start over Onyeka Okongwu.
Porzingis is on the last year of a two-year, $60 million extension he signed with the Boston Celtics. His average annual salary represented roughly a 15 percent reduction from the last year of his previous contract. He is likely looking at another salary reduction on his next contract. How much of a pay cut depends on his performance and availability.
The Hawks should have somewhere between the low-to-mid $20 million range of projected 2026-27 luxury tax space following a Daniels extension. A two-year deal in the $45-50 million range may be as high as the Hawks are comfortable going for him. That would be similar to the contract Brook Lopez signed with the Bucks in 2023 and would allow them to avoid the luxury tax next season.
Then there’s Young. According to Jake Fischer, the Hawks do not plan on extending Young before the start of the season. His situation could take the longest to resolve since he has a player option he could exercise. His extension negotiations will be equally fascinating as it is challenging.
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Young is in the fourth year of a maximum contract he signed worth 30 percent of the salary cap. He qualified for that amount over the 25 percent maximum since he made Third Team All-NBA in the fourth year of his rookie contract. His extension had escalators to earn 30 percent if he made any All-NBA team in 2021-22.
Keith Smith detailed Young’s extension options thoroughly on Spotrac. Young is eligible for the same four-year, $229 million extension that De’Aaron Fox just signed with the San Antonio Spurs. He will naturally ask for that, considering he’s more accomplished than Fox. He also remains supermax-eligible, projected at five years, $336 million, if he makes an All-NBA team this upcoming season.
The Hawks have been disciplined with their recent contract negotiations. Recent contracts for Okongwu, Johnson, and Alexander-Walker are all considered team-friendly. If they are unwilling to extend Young at his standard maximum contract now, it’s unlikely that they would give him a contract above 30 percent of the cap if he qualifies for the supermax.
These negotiations will take time and may not commence until after the Hawks’ season is over. They may be looking for a contract with an annual figure at a similar percentage to his current one. Smith suggests the same three-year, $160 million extension that Luka Doncic received with the Lakers.
Either way, the Hawks have positioned themselves well to accommodate all these players on new contracts within their payroll goals. They’ll only gain more flexibility if the 2026-27 salary cap rises higher than currently expected.
As for the Nets side of things, this trade may add more questions than answers.
The Nets acquired Haywood Highsmith, who makes slightly more money and is more productive than Bufkin, with a second-round pick. The fact that they acquired Bufkin with no draft equity attached suggests that there was no such salary dump with a draft pick coming. At the very least, this trade essentially gets them to the salary floor.
The Heat traded a second-round pick with Highsmith because they needed to reduce payroll to get under the tax. The Nets naturally will ask for that price from teams that need to save money. The Hawks, however, didn’t need to reduce payroll now since they weren’t in danger of entering the tax. So instead of the Nets lowering their asking price, this trade is meant to give off the appearance that they’re acquiring a young player with upside they’re genuinely interested in.
On one hand, it makes sense to add Bufkin as a low-risk flier and to help reach the $139.2 million minimum team salary floor. On the other hand, this further complicates their roster crunch. As detailed previously on Third Apron, they need to enter the regular season with their team salary no less than that amount.
The maximum amount of cap space they can carry into the season is $15,464,700. They now have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and four on non-guaranteed contracts. They must trim the roster to 15 before the season starts.
This trade also increases the possibility that the Nets could waive a player or two on a guaranteed contract. Perhaps they’d consider waiving one if it helped them keep a player like Jalen Wilson. But it would be a strange look if they waived Bufkin after taking him off the Hawks’ hands for no cost.
It’s worth noting that the Nets would still be below the salary floor even if they waive one player on a guaranteed contract while getting down to 15 players. For example, they’d still be roughly $2.2 million below the salary floor if they waived one player on a guaranteed contract and kept Wilson among their non-guaranteed players.
This means the Nets could be looking at one more salary dump, likely a minimum-salaried player, to get to the salary floor. They could also get there by guaranteeing a player like Keon Johnson before subsequently waiving him, but a trade would be preferable.
The Nets waived David Muoka to create the roster space necessary to acquire Bufkin. Instead of signing an Exhibit 10 contract, he signed a standard non-guaranteed contract worth the rookie minimum with a $85,300 partial guarantee, per sources. This is the maximum guaranteed amount the Nets can give him while keeping his two-way eligibility with them, as well as keeping him eligible to play for the Long Island Nets.
Ricky Council IV is also expected to receive a partial guarantee, according to Brian Lewis. The Nets may give him, and possibly other players they bring to training camp, the same guaranteed amount to help reach the salary floor.
Update (9/17/2025): The Nets waived Johnson, who will leave a $271,614 partial guarantee. They have $13.6 million in cap space, but that figure could increase to $19.9 million if they waive their remaining non-guaranteed players.
Check out last week’s Third Apron podcast. Sam joined the show to discuss the Clippers' ongoing investigation, how it could linger into the season, and how potential penalties could impact their outlook. More on the Clippers will be explored on Third Apron as the situation develops.
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