Don’t expect the Hawks to immediately pursue an extension with recent acquisition Luguentz Dort, Marc Stein reports in a Substack post.

Atlanta acquired Dort from the Thunder in a three-team transaction due to Oklahoma City’s desire to drop under the second tax apron. Oklahoma City exercised its $17.7MM option on Dort and packaged three second-round picks to Atlanta in order to shed his salary.

The Hawks, however, now have numerous mid-tier salaries, which could be easily packaged with draft capital to pursue a star who becomes available via trade, Stein notes. Atlanta has seven players on the books making between $9.2MM and Dort’s salary next season. The Hawks could make that type of trade before the February deadline or wait until next summer, when the Hawks are projected to have more than $40MM in cap space.

However, Hoops Hype reports that Atlanta wants to keep Dort beyond this upcoming season. That report adds that several teams expressed interest in acquiring Dort before he was traded to Atlanta, including the Lakers, Nets, Raptors, and Heat.

Here’s more on the Hawks:

• With most of the notable offseason moves by Eastern Conference teams already in the books, where do the Hawks fit among their peers? The Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s Lauren Williams explores that question. She notes that along with Dort, they acquired Aaron Wiggins from the Thunder, Ryan Nembhard from the Mavericks and Devin Carter from the Kings. They also re-signed CJ McCollum and Jock Landale to one-year deals. Those moves have bolstered the roster enough for the Hawks, who lost to the eventual champion Knicks 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs last season, to be a contender in a suddenly-rugged conference.
• McCollum signed a $21MM extension prior to free agency. He told Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype that he was enamored with the organization and had no desire to go elsewhere. “I never made it to free agency. It’s a great situation for both parties,” he said. “We had good momentum into the playoffs. We didn’t finish the way we wanted, but I think there’s a lot to build on. I love the staff. I love (president of basketball operations) Onsi (Saleh). I love the organization. I love the Resslers. I love Quin (Snyder). I get along really well with the team and the players. There’s a lot of good basketball left for everybody. I’m excited to be back in Atlanta and for the challenge to try to build off what we were able to do last year.”
• ICYMI, the Cavaliers reportedly have a strong interest in acquiring Jonathan Kuminga and might look to pursue a sign-and-trade transaction with Atlanta. It’s not out of the question that Kuminga could stay with the Hawks on a short-term contract. Get the details here.