WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Hawks announced Wednesday that they have picked up the options of two key rotational guards. The team picked up Dyson Daniels’ fourth-year option and Kobe Bufkin’s third-year option.
The options allow the Hawks the right to extend a player’s contract through the 2025-26 season.
According to a person familiar with the situation, the Hawks will not pick up the fourth-year option of forward David Roddy, who they acquired this summer from the Phoenix Suns. It makes way for him to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
Daniels, who the team acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans, was drafted eighth overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. In four starts for the Hawks, he is averaging 12.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.8 steals and one block. He leads the NBA in total steals (11) and deflections (28), which are 12 more than the next closest players. Nikola Jokic, Marcus Smart, Cason Wallace and Jonathan Mogbo all have 16 deflections.
The Hawks selected Bufkin with the 15th overall pick in 2023 out of Michigan and though injuries have hampered his early career, the team believes strongly in his development.
In 17 games during his rookie season, Bufkin averaged 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 11.5 minutes and remained poised when guarding some of the league’s top guards. He scored his first NBA point at Milwaukee on Oct. 29, knocking down a free throw.
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