June 26: Hield’s new salary guarantee deadline is June 28, according to Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks (Twitter link). That means Atlanta will have until the end of the day on Sunday to make a decision on the shooting guard.
June 25: The Hawks and Buddy Hield have agreed to push back the guarantee date for his 2026/27 salary of $9.66MM, NBA insider Chris Haynes reports (Twitter link). Under the original terms of Hield’s deal, Atlanta had to make a decision by the end of the day on June 25.
Hield played sparingly in the seven games he spent with Atlanta after starting the season with the Warriors, and the Hawks suddenly find themselves with a number of guards, having agreed to trade for Aaron Wiggins and then drafting Kingston Flemings at 8th overall.
Still, Hield could be useful to Atlanta, either as a shooter off the bench or as an expiring salary who could be used for salary matching. His salary is currently partially guaranteed for $3MM, so giving the Hawks more time to make a decision could pave the way for him to increase that figure. Haynes notes that both the Hawks and Hield are still working through their options as they decide the future of their partnership.
It’s not clear what the new deadline will be, but it’s unlikely that the two sides would agree to push it far beyond early July — the Hawks should have a better sense of their potential paths by that point, while it’s still early enough in the offseason for Hield to catch on with a new team if he’s waived.
