Hawks Sign Center N’Faly Dante After Rockets Decline to Match Two-Year, $4.5M Offer
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The Atlanta Hawks have added 23-year-old center N’Faly Dante, finalizing a two-year, $4.5 million deal after the Houston Rockets chose not to match his offer sheet.
The agreement was first reported by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and later confirmed by the Hawks.
Dante spent last season on a two-way contract with Houston, appearing in four NBA games while playing most of the year for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. In 42 G League contests, he averaged 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks across 26.8 minutes.
Houston issued a two-way qualifying offer to Dante in June, but subsequently filled its allotted two-way spots with Kevon Harris, Isaiah Crawford and JD Davison. The Rockets are also operating just $1.26 million below the first-apron hard cap, limiting their ability to add salary.
Atlanta’s offer is believed to be at the league minimum, yet even that figure proved prohibitive for Houston under its current cap constraints. The Hawks now have 14 players on standard contracts, with forward Caleb Houstan expected to occupy the final roster spot.
Dante is the first two-way restricted free agent to sign an offer sheet since Tyrone Wallace in 2018 and the first to switch teams in such a scenario since 2020, when the Hawks signed Sacramento guard Bogdan Bogdanović.
He joins a frontcourt that already features Onyeka Okongwu, Kristaps Porziņģis, rookie Asa Newell and third-year big man Mouhamed Gueye.
Source: Hoops Wire
