Atlanta Hawks: The impact of waiving three players

The Atlanta Hawks recently waived three played they had signed to training camp deals. These players were Johnny Hamilton, Ibi Watson, and DaQuan Jeffries. This comes after the Hawks waived Jahlil Okafor and A.J. Lawson earlier in the preseason.

The Hawks have been trialing players out in the preseason as they only have one roster spot remaining. They waived Watson first and then signed Jeffries in his place. Jeffries did not get any court time after being signed so he will potentially play for the College Park Skyhawks.

Their second move was to waive Jahlil Okafor after a lackluster offseason. They did not sign anyone else to replace the former No. 3 pick. This left four players on non-guaranteed deals fighting for the remaining roster spot

The Atlanta Hawks made the right calls with the latest waiving of players

Hamilton was one of the Hawks’ first signings of the offseason and they gave him every chance possible to impress. Based on the way that he played, it seemed that he was going to be the second player waived but it appears that the Hawks saw him as a better prospect than Okafor.

Watson, a native of Georgia was signed only one day to being waived. While he was never going to make the squad, the impact that he could have had on the roster was simply to play for the Skyhawks. While this is still a probability, the Hawks have freed him up to get this deal done.

The Hawks also released Jeffries who they did not give any minutes in the preseason. His contribution may have been only in team practices but as the preseason wore on, the Hawks did not require him.

This only leaves Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot as a non-guaranteed player remaining on the roster meaning that the Hawks have a squad they can go into the regular season with. The only question remaining is whether he gets a guaranteed contract or if the Hawks believe in Sharife Cooper enough. They could sign him to a regular-season deal, leaving Luwawu Cabarrot the two-way contract.