Tim Hardaway Jr. signed a 4-year, $71 million offer sheet to return to the Knicks earlier this week. Atlanta has until later tonight to match that offer, but a Woj bomb has been dropped, and it when that happens things are set in stone.
Atlanta will not match New York's $71M offer sheet to Tim Hardaway Jr., but official notification still hours away, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 8, 2017
The Hawks seemed to have full intention of bringing back Hardaway throughout free agency, but the offer sheet came in much higher than expected. Atlanta’s new GM has stressed remaining flexibility during the early part of his tenure, and signing Hardaway Jr. to that kind of contract would severely limit that flexibility over the next few seasons. The Hawks already multiple bad contracts on the books for the next three seasons in Miles Plumlee and Kent Bazemore. Taking a risk on another one was not something Atlanta was willing to commit to.