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Hawks Make Unprecedented Contract Offer To RFA

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Quenton S Albertie | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 4:35 PM ET

The Atlanta Hawks are one of the teams that dramatically improved this offseason. However, the drama didn’t stop there.

Hawks Make Unprecedented Contract Offer To N’Faly Dante

On Saturday, the Hawks signed Houston Rockets restricted free agent N’Faly Dante to a two-year, $4.5 million offer sheet, according to HoopsHype insider Michael Scotto. The Rockets aren’t expected to match the offer sheet. Indeed, the “writing (was) on the wall that they expected Dante to depart” after signing JD Davidson, Isaiah Crawford and Kevon Harris to two-way contracts, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle reports. Aside from that, they “do not currently have enough room under their first-apron hard cap to match the offer sheet,” per Spotrac capologist Keith Smart’s calculations.

Just In: The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to a two-year, $4.5 million offer sheet with Houston Rockets two-way restricted free agent N’Faly Dante, league sources told @hoopshype. He averaged 15.1 points on 74.3% shooting, 9.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, and 1.0 steals in the G League. pic.twitter.com/PIjcA0q7ip

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) August 16, 2025

Dante is “the first two-way player to sign a standard offer sheet with another team since two-way contracts began” in 2017, Smart adds. Now, he’s set to become Atlanta’s third-string center, backing up Kristaps Porzingis and Onyeka Okongwu. Given their injury history, he may even get real playing time.

By my numbers, the Rockets do not currently have enough room under their first-apron hard cap to match the offer sheet N’Faly Dante signed with the Hawks.

I believe Dante is the first two-way player to sign a standard offer sheet with another team since two-way contracts began.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 16, 2025

Porzingis has played fewer than 60 games in seven of the last eight seasons. Okongwu has played fewer than 60 games in three of his five career seasons.

The Last Word on N’Faly Dante

At 6-foot-11 and 230 pounds, Dante averaged 6.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 12.8 minutes per game when called-up last season. In the G League, he averaged a near double-double with 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He added 2.2 blocks and 1.0 steal per game for good measure.

That wasn’t bad for an undrafted rookie. It was right up the alley for a player who averaged 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 2023-24. As a top-30 high school recruit, Dante’s slow growth at Oregon may have impacted the outlook on his ability.

Nevertheless, his combination of length, shot-blocking instincts and finishing ability is still valuable to NBA teams. It’s clearly worth $4.5 million to the Hawks.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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