Hawks gain luxury-tax flexibility in Thunder trade, Saleh says

[SportsMafia Wire]

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The Atlanta Hawks have acquired guard Lu Dort, wing Aaron Wiggins and guard Isaiah Joe from the Oklahoma City Thunder in a salary move that gives the franchise new spending power.

Hawks president of basketball operations Onsi Saleh said on SiriusXM that ownership has granted the front office complete freedom to pay the luxury tax if needed. "Even with us, we could go in the tax and we have full authority on the tax," Saleh said.

The Thunder sent out Dort, Wiggins and Joe to drop below the second apron, where teams forfeit the midlevel exception and cannot aggregate salaries in trades for a higher-paid player. The Hawks absorbed those contracts and now hold added flexibility.

Saleh noted that no particular transaction or timeline is set. The club plans to build around Jalen Johnson while monitoring when to deploy its financial room as rival clubs face stricter spending limits. Ownership has issued no prohibition against entering the tax, leaving the option open for what Saleh described as the "right opportunity."

Written by the SportsMafia Wire desk in our own words from the original reporting (AI-assisted, checked against the source).