8. Bones Hyland, Atlanta Hawks
Through the first few years of his career, Bones Hyland has had an interesting path. After a strong rookie season with the Denver Nuggets, he was traded to the LA Clippers at the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline. While he had some bright spots with the Clippers over the past two seasons, he never truly found his comfort with the team. Bouncing in and out of the rotation, a change of scenery was probably best at this point in his career for Hyland. As part of the Bogdan Bogdanovic deal, Hyland was traded to the Atlanta Hawks just before the NBA Trade Deadline.
Even though there's a small chance that Hyland could stick around in Atlanta, I do believe the most likely scenario is that he's going to agree to a buyout agreement with the team. In the final year of his contract before he hits free agency, that's probably the most likely scenario at this point - especially if Hyland wants a shot to play with a playoff contender. Either way, I find it hard to believe his future is going to be in Atlanta. Maybe the Hawks give him a head start into free agency.
What teams could be a fit for Bones Hyland: To be completely honest, Hyland is a difficult player to understand. He's somewhat of a lightning rod on the offensive end of the floor while leaving a lot to be desired defensively. He's also known to be somewhat inconsistent. When he gets hot, he has the chance to change a game. However, when he's not, it's hard to keep him on the floor. That quickly became a problem during his stints with the Nuggets and then the Clippers.
I wonder if a team like the New York Knicks would be open to taking on Hyland. They could probably use some of his offensive juice off the bench and he probably wouldn't be that big of a risk for the team. At the very least, it's probably a conversation New York can have behind closed doors. But, essentially, any team that is in need of some offensive depth in the backcourt could make sense for Hyland.