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Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2022 Free Agents - Skylar Mays
Summary
Mays was selected 50th in the 2020 NBA Draft, and signed a two-way contract with Atlanta that was converted to a standard contract right near the end of the '21-'22 season. Mays hasn't received much time over the course of his two-year career, playing non-garbage time in only 36 games, and getting only 340 minutes of non-garbage time, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Mays is a skilled combo guard, but just doesn't have a single great skill to hang his hat on. He shoots slightly below average from three at 34%. He has some ball-handling and creation ability, but isn't a great passer or someone that can make a ton of plays for others. Defensively, he has the size to guard either guard position but is probably too small to guard many wings. If he can up his efficiency from outside or just make more productive plays, he could become a decent role player.
Cap Considerations
Mays will be a restricted free agent with a $2 million cap hold and Qualifying Offer, and the Hawks will have his Early Bird rights. However, the Hawks may not tender him a QO, which would make him an unrestricted free agent. If the Hawks re-sign Mays using the Early-Bird Exception, they could offer him a starting salary of up to 105% of the average salary this past season (roughly $10 million), which would be more than enough.
Since Mays will only have two years of service, he will be subject to the Gilbert Arenas provision. This means that any offer sheet he signs with a team besides Atlanta can have a starting maximum salary of $10.3 million, but the third and potentially fourth years of that contract can have a large jump (up to the max). His cap hit would then be the average salary over the life of the contract. If the Hawks match, they could choose for his cap hit to either be his actual salary per season or the average over the life of the contract, provided the average fits within the Early Bird Exception or cap space.
I do not expect this to come into play for Mays, as I think any offers for him would fit within the full Non-Taxpayer MLE over the length of the contract, and could also be had with offers using the Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception. Most likely though, Mays will be an unrestricted free agent with only minimum offers, and may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.
Potential Teams: Hawks, Hornets, Raptors, Trailblazers, Nuggets
Predicted Contract: 1-year, $1.8 million (non-guaranteed) with the Hawks
Last updated: 4/14/2022
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