The Hawks have picked up their third-year option on forward Asa Newell, the team announced in a press release.

Newell, the 23rd overall pick in last year’s draft, is making about $3.4MM this season. The transaction locks in his $3.56MM cap hit for 2027/28.

An Atlanta native who played his college ball at Georgia, Newell didn’t play a ton as a rookie last season, averaging 5.2 points and 2.2 rebounds on .538/.387/.552 shooting splits in 44 NBA appearances for his hometown team (11.4 minutes per game).

Newell was more productive at the G League level with the College Park Skyhawks. In 15 appearances (32.5 MPG) with the Hawks’ affiliate team in 2026/27, the 6’10” power forward averaged 22.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.4 BPG on .567/.378/.692 shooting.

The Hawks fell to 3-4 on Saturday and have lost four of their past five games after a 2-0 start. Newell was a relative bright spot in the lopsided loss in New Orleans, recording season highs of 13 points and four rebounds in just under 19 minutes. The 21-year-old hasn’t been a part of head coach Quin Snyder’s rotation early on in 2027/28, but the move was expected since Newell’s cap hit for next season is so modest.

Monday is the deadline for teams to exercise their third- and fourth-year rookie scale team options. We’re tracking all of those decisions right here.