{"id":148095,"date":"2025-07-01T00:29:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T04:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=148095"},"modified":"2025-07-01T00:34:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T04:34:03","slug":"hawks-brilliant-offseason-free-agent-signings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/01\/hawks-brilliant-offseason-free-agent-signings\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawks&#8217; Brilliant Offseason Continues After Two Key Free Agent Signings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Hawks continued their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/24\/examining-kristaps-porzingis-fit-with-the-hawks\/\" target=\"_self\">busy 2025 offseason<\/a>, making two big splashes for their bench in free agency. They acquired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alexani01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> via a sign-and-trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Atlanta sends a Cleveland Cavaliers&#8217; 2027 second-round pick and cash to Minnesota to complete the transaction.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Free agent Nickeil Alexander-Walker has agreed to a four-year, $62 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks, plus a player option and trade kicker, sources tell ESPN. CAA Co-Heads of Basketball Aaron Mintz\/Austin Brown and Steven Heumann reached the contract with the Hawks tonight. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/G93cmxsHGo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/G93cmxsHGo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1939838544794779934?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Hawks also signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kennalu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Kennard<\/a> to a one-year, $11 million contract with the mid-level exception to cap off the night. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1939851149835649093\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reached out<\/a> to both players to recruit them to Atlanta, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/22\/hawks-new-front-office-tested-early\/\" target=\"_self\">front office<\/a> responded.<\/p>\n<h2>Hawks&#8217; Brilliant Offseason Continues After Two Key Free Agent Signings<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_148200\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-148200\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres.jpg\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-148200\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25573211_168404824_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-148200\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mar 3, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard (10) shoots during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Alexander-Walker and Kennard Boost the Hawks&#8217; Shooting<\/h3>\n<p>Last season, the Hawks struggled mightily offensively without\u00a0Young on the floor. When they traded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bogdabo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bogdan Bogdanovi\u0107<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huntede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De&#8217;Andre Hunter<\/a> at the trade deadline, the moves amplified this issue even more. Atlanta struggled to find quality three-point looks without its star, but Alexander-Walker and Kennard will change that.<\/p>\n<p>Alexander-Walker&#8217;s three-point stroke has developed strongly since his rookie season. He shot 38.1% from deep on 4.5 attempts per game last season. He played a pivotal role on the Minnesota Timberwolves, helping them reach back-to-back Western Conference Finals over the last two seasons. His physical brand of on-ball defense, havoc creation, and hustle plays fit seamlessly into Atlanta&#8217;s plans to turn defense into easy offense. Alexander-Walker now joins All-NBA defender <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daniedy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dyson Daniels<\/a> in Atlanta to form a lockdown duo at the point of attack. The 26-year-old guard can play on or off the ball- either as a backup or backcourt duo with Young.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hawks got another strong perimeter defender in Nickeil Alexander-Walker \ud83d\udcfd\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>6&#39;9&quot; wingspan lets him backtap guards dribbles away, blow up passing lanes and take away bigs entry passes with ease<\/p>\n<p>99th% in Ball-Screen Navigation &amp; 98th% in Offensive Fouls Drawn\/Game \ud83e\udd2f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XDpQ79bnsT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/XDpQ79bnsT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; #InSnyderWeTrust (@dlee4three) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dlee4three\/status\/1939851336842985918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Kennard, simply put, is a sharpshooter. He has led the NBA in three-point percentage twice in his eight-year career. Last season, he shot four threes per contest at a 43.3% clip. In his first few seasons in the league, Kennard was just a catch-and-shoot guy. That is no longer the case. Over the last few campaigns, he has taken on more responsibility as a ball handler in pick-and-roll situations. He uses his threat from beyond the arc to blow by unsuspecting defenders. Kennard is not a great defender, but Atlanta will count on his on-ball abilities more after losing <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leverca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caris LeVert<\/a>. The Hawks can use bench lineups with Kennard and Alexander-Walker to have better spacing offensively.<\/p>\n<h3>Atlanta Adds Healthy Competition and Playoff Experience to the Roster<\/h3>\n<p>Before free agency, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bufkiko01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kobe Bufkin<\/a> was in line for the backup point guard role. While Kennard and Alexander-Walker are not traditional point guards, they can operate as temporary offensive initiators. Bufkin, who only has 27 NBA games under his belt, will need to prove himself this season. If he does not perform well, Bufkin could find himself as an odd man out of the rotation later in the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawks added playoff experience to their bench and young core with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is<\/a>, Alexander-Walker, and Kennard. They are in a prime position as contenders in the Eastern Conference next season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Featuread image: \u00a9 Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Hawks continued their busy 2025 offseason, making two big splashes for their bench in free agency. They acquired Nickeil Alexander-Walker via a sign-and-trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Atlanta sends a Cleveland Cavaliers&#8217; 2027 second-round pick and cash to Minnesota to complete the transaction. Free agent Nickeil Alexander-Walker has agreed to a four-year, $62 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5516,"featured_media":148201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,62,3],"tags":[50219,769,947],"class_list":["post-148095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-nba","category-news","tag-2025-nba-free-agents","tag-luke-kennard","tag-nickeil-alexander-walker"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148095"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148202,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148095\/revisions\/148202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}