| Will Harrington Fly The Coupe? Authored by Patrick J. Austin - March 8, 2006 - 12:22 pm
The trading deadline passed by and to everyone’s amazement, Al Harrington is still in a Hawks uniform. Rumors of his exit from the ATL ranged from a big deal with Chicago, a swap of young talent with Detroit, and a simple exchange with Denver. But through all the proposed deals, the anonymous sources guaranteeing Al’s departure, and message board gossip (most of which was created by me and the rest of the Hawks board) Harrington is still with the team. So that begs the obvious question—why?
Just to be clear, Al Harrington was available. We were entertaining offers from multiple teams. Let’s take a look at some of the deals supposedly offered leading up to the deadline…
1.)Hawks trade Al Harrington & Tony Delk to Chicago in exchange for Tim Thomas, Malik Allen, & a future first round pick
This trade would have followed in the tradition of Billy Knight’s mid-season moves. If you look at the past two trade deadlines, Knight dealt our big name players (i.e. Rasheed Wallace & Antoine Walker) for expiring contracts and a draft pick. Apparently, the reason this particular deal fell through was the specifics of the pick. The Hawks were lobbying for the pick Chicago received from New York, but there was no way Paxson would deal away potentially the #1 selection in the upcoming draft. I’m guessing BK continued to ask for a pick with minimal protection and Paxson wouldn’t budge. It was reported Pax tried to get a deal done at the midnight hour, but neither side could come to an amicable agreement.
2.)Hawks trade Al Harrington & Tony Delk to Detroit in exchange for Carlos Arroyo & Darko Milicic
Yes, the Hawks were in the running for Darko. Supposedly, the Pistons were interested but demanded a first round pick be involved with any deal for Darko. Since the Hawks dealt away two future first rounders in the Joe Johnson deal, they couldn’t fulfill Detroit’s requirement. In addition, it’s been rumored Mike Woodson voiced his displeasure with the idea of bringing Milicic in (he was an assistant with Detroit in Darko’s first year).
3.)Hawks trade Al Harrington to Denver in exchange for Earl Watson, Nene, & two conditional future first round picks.
Denver approached Atlanta about this deal but BK was reluctant to take on Earl Watson’s lengthy contract. Furthermore, those two first round picks weren’t very attractive since each has heavy protection. Yes, it would have been nice to acquire a big man like Nene, but we have a good chance to land him this summer since he’s a restricted free agent and it’s obvious Denver doesn’t want to re-sign him.
Another potential reason Al is still with the Hawks is Billy Knight’s insecurity. Let’s be honest, there are rumblings that he’s on the hot seat. If BK had dealt Harrington for youth or draft picks and the Hawks went back down the toilet, it would have given ownership that much more of a reason to let BK go.
So, what’s next? Harrington is going to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer and there’s a very good chance he’ll bolt Hotlanta. The Bulls will have close to $20 million dollars in cap space and, as mentioned earlier, have a strong interest in Al. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them sign Al for big money. A sign and trade is always possible, but it’s much more difficult to pull one off with an unrestricted free agent. The team has no leverage in that scenario.
Of course, it is possible he re-signs with the Hawks. Billy Knight has even said he’d like to keep Harrington long-term if the price is right. This is extremely puzzling, especially when you consider our current roster. If we were to actually re-sign Harrington to a long-term deal, it would make the Marvin Williams selection look idiotic (some say it already is). I mean, if Knight had Harrington in his plans for the “grand re-construction” that is the Atlanta Hawks, then why take a forward like Williams when we so obviously needed a point guard? It just doesn’t make sense. With Marvin on board, our future forward tandem should be Marv and J-Smoove. Harrington isn’t needed and is only stunting Williams’ development.
I’m hoping we can work out some sort of sign and trade in the off-season. Hey, maybe Knight can swindle Isiah Thomas like virtually every other general manager in the league. This could be the conversation…
Zeke: Hey BK, this is Zeke. I really, really want Al Harrington.
BK: We’re open to a sign and trade, but his agent is demanding max money.
Zeke: Bro, c’mon I work for the Knicks. We’ll give him $100 mill if necessary.
BK: Okay, we’ll take on Mo Taylor’s contract; but we want Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, and David Lee as compensation.
Zeke: Well, Harrington is on Larry’s list, so…done deal.
BK(while doing back flips): Nice doing business with you Zeke. You’ll be up for GM of the year after this move. :::giggles:::
Hey, it could happen. |
