The Ballad of the True Professional
Our boy Sekou Smith has a nice little article on the AJC providing a few suggestions on how to trade Harrington. All 3 options are interesting, but they all include a draft pick and several players (except for the Joe Smith trade, which includes $3 million in cash).
I can't tell if Sekou is being serious or not, but the Pacers just nixed a deal in which all they would have to give up was a draft pick. I don't understand why he thinks another GM is willing to give up anything more than a draft pick. Usually GMs are stupid and greedy, and any team willing to sign Harrington is a little clueless to begin with. And yet none of them seem willing to deal with the Hawks, when their demands are minimal- we want something in return, preferably a draft pick, but we won't take on any crap contracts. That's it. So what's the real story? Can Billy Knight not get the deal done? Does he refuse to shake hands with other GMs who don't give him the deals he wants? Does he call them, do they call him? What's it like down there in the front office?
The Warriors are rumored as a destination, as is Boston. But it's just rumors. This team once had Rasheed Wallace and traded him to create cap space. Now we have it, and we're not doing much with it.
With the possible exception of Joe Johnson (and I grant the exception), there aren't any overpaid players on this team. So you could call Billy Knight the John Scheurholtz of the NBA- John would trade anybody in a contract year (or cut them) if they were going to command unfair money. Some team is going to pay Al Harrington ridiculous money for his offensive skills, but he doesn't make a team better when he's on the court, period. And Al isn't the only NBA player with an overvalued contract (see: The Knicks). If Billy's only goal is building a team of fair valued players, I'm okay with that. It took him a few years to dump the worthless stuff, and a few more to start building again. As long as he sticks to his guns, this team will steadily improve and become a contender in the East. The Hawks may be a year off from the playoffs, but they also might only be 3 years away from being contenders. Perhaps Billy Knight isn't very good at being a GM, but if that is his vision then I can support that.
But wouldn't you rather max out our cap and see Allen Iverson play every night?
I can't tell if Sekou is being serious or not, but the Pacers just nixed a deal in which all they would have to give up was a draft pick. I don't understand why he thinks another GM is willing to give up anything more than a draft pick. Usually GMs are stupid and greedy, and any team willing to sign Harrington is a little clueless to begin with. And yet none of them seem willing to deal with the Hawks, when their demands are minimal- we want something in return, preferably a draft pick, but we won't take on any crap contracts. That's it. So what's the real story? Can Billy Knight not get the deal done? Does he refuse to shake hands with other GMs who don't give him the deals he wants? Does he call them, do they call him? What's it like down there in the front office?
The Warriors are rumored as a destination, as is Boston. But it's just rumors. This team once had Rasheed Wallace and traded him to create cap space. Now we have it, and we're not doing much with it.
With the possible exception of Joe Johnson (and I grant the exception), there aren't any overpaid players on this team. So you could call Billy Knight the John Scheurholtz of the NBA- John would trade anybody in a contract year (or cut them) if they were going to command unfair money. Some team is going to pay Al Harrington ridiculous money for his offensive skills, but he doesn't make a team better when he's on the court, period. And Al isn't the only NBA player with an overvalued contract (see: The Knicks). If Billy's only goal is building a team of fair valued players, I'm okay with that. It took him a few years to dump the worthless stuff, and a few more to start building again. As long as he sticks to his guns, this team will steadily improve and become a contender in the East. The Hawks may be a year off from the playoffs, but they also might only be 3 years away from being contenders. Perhaps Billy Knight isn't very good at being a GM, but if that is his vision then I can support that.
But wouldn't you rather max out our cap and see Allen Iverson play every night?
posted by Matt at 11:08 AM
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