The Hawks have signed two of their key rookies to deals. The team announced Monday that it signed 15th overall pick Kobe Bufkin and 39th overall pick Mouhamed Gueye, whose draft rights were acquired from the Celtics on draft night.
The Hawks did not announce the terms of Bufkin’s deal but it likely is a rookie scale contract based on his draft position. With the salary cap increased to $136,021,000, the Hawks could sign Bufkin to as little as 80% of that rookie scale amount, or as high as 120% of that figure.
Last season at Michigan, Bufkin averaged 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 34 minutes per game. He helped the Wolverines to back-to-back postseason appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 in the 2022 NCAA Tournament and the second round of the 2023 NIT.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Hawks also did not announce the terms of Gueye’s contract. But per HoopsHype, the Hawks signed him to a four-year, $7.64 million deal using the new second-round pick exception recently ratified in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The exception allows teams to sign second-round picks for multiple years without having to dip into the mid-level exception.
Gueye, whose name is pronounced “mo-HAH-med Gay”, averaged 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 32.1 minutes in his sophomore season at Washington State. The 20-year-old Senegalese forward has only played organized basketball since he was 16 after making the switch from soccer.
Now, the 6-foot-11 forward holds a spot on the Hawks’ roster after intriguing the team with his skills in multiple pre-draft workouts.
The rookies will head to Las Vegas this week as part of the Hawks’ Summer League roster. The team, coached by first-year assistant Antonio Lang, suits up for its first game on Friday at 10:30 p.m.
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