Hawks send EJ Liddell to Suns for David Roddy

Roddy, 23, began his career with the Grizzlies after they drafted him with the 23rd overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. The 6-foot-4 forward averaged 7.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists before the Grizzlies dealt him to the Suns as part of a three-team trade in February.

The Hawks have a lot more to decide as Friday’s deal doesn’t address the logjam at center, as well as the number of players they have under contract.

They currently have 16 players under contract, one of whom they need to decide if they will guarantee. The team extended its deadline for guaranteeing the contract of center Bruno Fernando. It originally had until June 29, but it pushed back the deadline to July 10, before kicking the can down the road to Aug. 1.

The team also took on a little more money in its acquisition of Roddy, who makes over $700,000 more than Liddell. The Hawks did not need to match salary since the Suns agreed to take on the smaller contract, but they’ve often made moves that keep them under the luxury tax.

Per Spotrac, the Hawks had $178,120,356 in total cap allocations for next season, putting them almost $38 million over the salary cap. They are hard-capped at the first apron.

But, they could clear some space and get under the luxury tax should they sort out their roster crunch.

Here’s a look at the Hawks roster:

PG: Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Kobe Bufkin

SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Garrison Mathews, Nikola Djurisic**

SF: De’Andre Hunter, Zaccharie Risacher, Vit Krejci

PF: Jalen Johnson, Mo Gueye, David Roddy

C: Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, Larry Nance, Cody Zeller, Bruno Fernando*

TW: Keaton Wallace, Seth Lundy

*on non-guaranteed deal

**has not signed contract