Hawks' Kent Bazemore: Plans to exercise option

Bazemore will exercise his $19.2 million player option for the 2019-20 season, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.

This comes as no surprise, as Bazemore's value as a free agent this summer would likely be much lower than the $19.2 million he will now make next season. While the Hawks continue to build around their young core, it's unclear where Bazemore fits into Atlanta's plans, and given that he will now be under an expiring contract, he could be used as a trade asset for Atlanta next year.