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Multiple reports suggest that the Atlanta Hawks have free agent small forward Luol Deng on their wishlist when the free agency period opens on Tuesday.
One strong candidate for that $15M-plus of fresh salary cap space in Atlanta, league sources tell Yahoo: Free agent forward Luol Deng.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 30, 2014
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Deng is expected to command a contract in the range of $10-12 million a year. Atlanta potentially opened up a large amount of cap room on Sunday by dumping Lou Williams to Toronto. The Hawks could afford to make such an offer to Deng and potentially keep restricted free agents Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack. The team could also be interested in retaining Elton Brand who is an unrestricted free agent.
Deng looks like the type of player the Hawks would want. He possesses a high basketball IQ and is a great defender at the wing position. His offensive numbers have fallen off in recent years however, and he has a lot of mileage on him from his time in Chicago where he often played heavy minutes.
Still he would be an upgrade to the small forward position and would free DeMarre Carroll to come off the bench as part of the second unit.