Hawks to be awarded guard Tyrone Wallace on waivers

As teams made their final cuts over the weekend and into Monday, there were a handful of players available to be claimed off waivers in the early part of this week. Golden State’s Alfonzo McKinnie was claimed by Cleveland before Atlanta had a chance to do so, but on Wednesday, the Hawks got their man, as former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Tyrone Wallace was claimed by the team to fill their 15th roster spot.

Wallace is on a fully non-guaranteed contract and will only cost the Hawks $1.6 million in cap space, though that number will come down if he is waived before January 7, 2020. Atlanta has $3.74 million in remaining cap space with Wallace at his full value, plus the $4.8 million Room Exception, should they want to add to the roster at some point this season, but with 15 players now under contract, it’s unlikely that they’ll make another significant signing. That $3.7 million could be useful in a small-salary trade, should the right move become available before the February trade deadline.

Wallace can immediately slide into the Hawks’ rotation as a backup guard, particularly in the wake of the injury to Allen Crabbe that will keep him out at the beginning of the season. Wallace stands 6’5 and weighs in at nearly 200 pounds, giving him the sort of length and strength to be a strong defender at the guard position. His offensive game does leave something to be desired, particularly in the outside shooting department. For this reason, he may find playing time hard to come by in Atlanta, given that the team already employs a number of non-shooters off the bench, led by Evan Turner and DeAndre’ Bembry.

He’ll join the team for now, but the Hawks don’t have a long-term investment in Wallace past early January if they want to move on and use their final roster spot in another fashion. For the moment, Wallace can bring his defensive prowess to a Hawks team that desperately needs some quality defenders.