Hawks' Tim Hardaway Jr. Extended Qualifying Offer; Becomes Restricted Free Agent

The Atlanta Hawks extended a qualifying offer to Tim Hardaway Jr., making the veteran guard a restricted free agent, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore reported Monday.

Hardaway averaged a career-high 14.5 points and shot 35.7 percent from three-point range for the Hawks in 2016-17.

According to Spotrac, Hardaway will earn nearly $4.6 million if he signs the qualifying offer. The 25-year-old will almost certainly seek a longer-term contract instead, but extending the qualifying offer makes sense for Atlanta since it prevents him from entering unrestricted free agency.

Hardaway will likely receive a lot of interest throughout the league after taking a big jump in his fourth season. Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes ranked him as the third-best shooting guard available, behind only Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JJ Redick.

"A slight uptick in three-point accuracy (35.7 percent) and another step forward as a pick-and-roll ball-handler could make Hardaway one of the game's best bench sparks—the kind that can even singlehandedly win games down the stretch when he's hot," Hughes wrote of Hardaway.

The Hawks are likely entering a rebuilding phase following their first-round playoff exit. Paul Millsap is a free agent, and Atlanta traded Dwight Howard to the Charlotte Hornets.

Given his age, Hardaway would not only help the Hawks in the short term but also give the team a possible building block as it assembles a core of younger players for the future.