Source: Kent Bazemore agrees to return to Hawks on 4-year, $70 million deal

ByBRIAN WINDHORST
July 1, 2016, 11:30 PM

— -- The Atlanta Hawks have reached a verbal agreement to re-sign wing Kent Bazemore on a four-year deal worth $70 million, league sources told ESPN.

The fourth year of the deal is a player option, sources said.

Bazemore, who turned 27 on Friday, is a defensive specialist who has worked his way up after going undrafted. He had several suitors, including the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Bazemore declined four-year, $72 million offers from the Rockets and Lakers, a source told ESPN's Calvin Watkins, confirming an NBA.com report.

Combined with their agreement with Dwight Howard on a three-year, $70.5 million deal earlier Friday, the Hawks have nearly exhausted their available salary-cap space, while All-Star free agent and nine-year team veteran Al Horford has yet to pick a team.

However, the Hawks were engaged in trade talks Friday that potentially would allow them to open more cap space in the event Horford decided to re-sign. Horford is one of the most coveted free agents on the market, with several teams interested in him, including the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons and Rockets.

Horford met with the Rockets on Friday and expects to make a decision this weekend, a source told Watkins.

Bazemore averaged 11.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Hawks last season.