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Hawks Add Wiggins, Re-Sign McCollum; Thunder Cuts Tax Bill

6/22/2026

Summary

Hawks Acquire

Hawks acquire guard Aaron Wiggins from Thunder for a 2030 second-round pick and the Hawks/Lakers 2032 second-round pick.
Trade reduces Thunder’s projected luxury-tax bill from $213 million to $152 million and opens a roster spot.
Wiggins posted 12.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 2024-25 after averaging 9.4 points the season before.
Hawks also re-signed CJ McCollum to a one-year, $21 million deal, adding scoring as Wiggins supplies wing depth for a playoff push.

Summary

Thunder Trim Payroll

Trade frees a slot, letting Oklahoma City keep first-round picks No. 12 and No. 17 for June 23-24 draft.
Atlanta absorbs Wiggins’s $9.2 million salary with the $11 million trade exception from the Luke Kennard deal.
Shedding Wiggins cuts Thunder payroll to $476 million, leaving it $3.7 million under luxury-tax line after dropping options on Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams.
The Hawks stay $6.4 million below the luxury-tax ceiling, which could rise if Jonathan Kuminga’s $24.3 million option is exercised.

History

Historical Context

The 2011 NBA collective bargaining agreement, ratified in December 2011, replaced the dollar-for-dollar luxury-tax penalty with an incremental system and set the tax line at $70.307 million. Under that framework, teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks now shuffle contracts—moving Aaron Wiggins’s deal and using a trade exception—to stay under the modern tax ceiling and preserve draft flexibility.

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Hawks Acquire

Hawks acquire guard Aaron Wiggins from Thunder for a 2030 second-round pick and the Hawks/Lakers 2032 second-round pick.
Trade reduces Thunder’s projected luxury-tax bill from $213 million to $152 million and opens a roster spot.
Wiggins posted 12.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 2024-25 after averaging 9.4 points the season before.
Hawks also re-signed CJ McCollum to a one-year, $21 million deal, adding scoring as Wiggins supplies wing depth for a playoff push.

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