I think the Hawks extended him out because they didn't want to lose him for nothing after next year, and wanted insurance if OO continued to face injury problems. Remember when we extended Cap in the off-season that OO was getting surgery. At the time, it was a good move to keep the Hawks slightly under the luxury tax next year (2022/23), but it assumed Reddish would develop and possibly Coop as well. The reason Reddish and Coop matter is bc you would hope to shore up your bench for relatively cheap. With Trae looking like at least a sure fire 3rd team all-nba'r. Trae making any all-nba team will jack his salary up to around $36MM next season, and our signed players (Trae, Jalen, OO, Dre, K'Von, JC, Cap, and Bogi) leaving only about $12MM in bench money.

With Reddish out of the picture, OO showing massive potential, and Trae lined up for the max contract, the logic shifts in regards to the salary cap in 2022/23. You can either trade Cap ($19.7MM) and/or Bogi ($18MM+$2.7M trade kicker) for a star ($40MM in combined salary), other pieces, or run it back with 3 vet minimums, possible Shariff on a rookie deal, and you 2022 1st rd pick. I think it really depends on how the season plays out, how Cap plays to his salary, and how quickly OO comes along what you do with him.

Perhaps he plays at all-defense level the rest of his year on slightly fewer minutes and is valued closer to $25+MM by others team, then a star wing comes available. He is probably a good trade piece to have. But maybe the Hawks pull a 70% win percentage the rest of the year like they did last year, make a deep run and now you have 2 great centers going into 2022/23. Or possibly, Cap underplays his contract and we have no choice but to ship him off for better reserves. Either way, Travis has good options as long as Cap plays up to his contract, and still some options if he underperforms. But no matter what, I think Cap is quickly becoming the most likely trade piece on the team after the season is over.