The Hawks are trying to procure a meeting with Kevin Durant, the Thunder star who will become an unrestricted free agent, according to a person familiar with the situation.
ESPN first reported the Hawks’ efforts.
The Hawks are in position where they must balance their desire to re-sign both Al Horford and Kent Bazemore, who with also be unrestricted free agents on July 1. However, the Hawks do have the salary cap space to re-sign Al Horford and another max player. Following the trade of Jeff Teague, the Hawks have $25 million in available cap space after a deal for Horford. That means there all but there at the $26 million yearly salary it would take to sign Durant to a max deal.
Durant, a small forward, would figure to be a perfect fit to the Hawks’ space-and-pace style of play and would surely make them a title contender.
It is not certain that Durant will agree to a meeting with the Hawks. He will reportedly meet with the Thunder, Warriors, Spurs, Celtics, Heat and Clippers. The Knicks and Lakers are also reported to be interested in meeting with Durant.
Durant is a seven-time all-star, six-time All-NBA and won the league’s MVP award in 2014. He also was won the league scoring title four times. He has averaged 27.4 points per game over his nine NBA seasons.
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