The Atlanta Hawks are waiving center Bruno Fernando, per Shams Charania of The Athletic, bringing their total number of players at the position to three.
The move is not a big surprise, given that the Hawks did indeed have Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, Cody Zeller and Fernando in the middle. Larry Nance Jr. can also man the spot.
Fernando, 25, is 6-foot-9 and averaged 6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 45 appearances last season, shooting 58.3% from the field and 66.7% on free throws. He has spent seven seasons in the NBA, including four with the Hawks. He has also played for the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets.
Atlanta will now be off the hook for Fernando’s $2.7 million salary for 2024-25 (as well as the team option for $2.85 million the following season). So yeah, it saves them some dough as well as eliminates the logjam at center.
The Hawks and Fernando had moved the guarantee date on his contract to August 1, so the timing of the transaction also makes sense.
As for Fernando, you’d think a team that needs bigs depth would quickly gobble him up on the free-agent market. (Here’s looking at you New Orleans Pelicans, Cleveland Cavaliers and a few others.)
“It’s likely that Fernando finds a new team that is in dire need of center depth,” wrote Rohan Raman of SI.com. “Unfortunately, the Hawks are not that team. With this extra roster spot, it frees them up to either make a trade or veteran signing that will make a bigger impact towards the 2024-25 team.”
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