Atlanta Hawks sign forward James Nunnally to 10-day contract

Mar 9, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; UC Santa Barbara Gauchos guard James Nunnally (21) drives the ball as he is defended by Cal Poly Mustangs forward David Hanson (34) during the semifinal round of the 2012 Big West Tournament at the Honda Center. The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos won 64-52. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

UPDATE: The Hawks have officially announced this move as of Saturday afternoon.

Since the news broke that the Atlanta Hawks were parting ways with swingman Cartier Martin earlier in the week, speculation about Danny Ferry’s plans with the newly-open roster spot ranged from “major acquisition!” to “rotating 10-day contracts”. Now, we have our first bit of clarity on the situation, at least in the immediate time frame.

Multiple reports are indicating that the Hawks are likely to sign forward James Nunnally to a 10-day contract some time over the weekend. USA Today’s Sam Amick was the first to report interest on the Atlanta side, but the story was given more credence by an AJC report (via Chris Vivlamore) of a “good possibility” that the Hawks would ink the young swingman.

Nunnally is currently playing for the Bakersfield Jam, which is almost definitely not a coincidence given the time that Hawks execs have spent taking in the play of their own players, Jared Cunningham and Dennis Schröder. He is a 6-foot-7 swingman who is averaging north of 18 points per game with Bakersfield this season, and would theoretically provide some depth at the small forward position, where the Hawks are very short after waiving Cartier Martin.

There isn’t a ton of professional data on Nunnally at this stage, but he was a member of the Phoenix Suns in the preseason before he was waived on October 24th. The 23-year-old did average 16 points per game during his final two seasons at UC-Santa Barbara, and it’ll be interesting to see where he falls in the rotation, if at all.

Stay tuned for confirmation of this move should it go down.