Rumor: Hawks in No Rush to Sign-and-Trade Al Harrington

by Atma Brother ONE on Jul 14, 2006 8:22 AM PDT in News

From Marcus Thompson of the CC Times:

The Warriors, the Indiana Pacers, coveted free-agent forward Al Harrington -- they're all waiting on the Hawks. A person familiar with negotiations said the sign-and-trade is taking so long to work out because Atlanta hasn't decided what's enough in return for Harrington. Meanwhile, Harrington sits in limbo, and so do the Warriors.

The question is what does Atlanta want? Does it want Warriors forward Troy Murphy or Pacers center Jeff Foster? Is Warriors swingman Mickael Pietrus the deal-sweetener that will convince the Hawks to trade Harrington to the Warriors? Or do the Hawks want a proven and steady point guard in Indiana's Anthony Johnson? Is there a player on another roster whom Atlanta covets enough to bring a third team into the mix?

Neither the Warriors nor the Pacers have the money under the salary cap to sign Harrington outright. Nobody but Atlanta does, so Harrington needs a sign-and-trade to get the amount of money he wants. So all sides have no choice but to wait for Atlanta.

How could Billy Knight and the Hawks not know what they want? They've had over a month to think this through. Al Harrington's not a superstar or even an All Star. The Warriors shouldn't hang around all summer and wait for the inept Hawks to complete a deal. Given the Pacers' recently granted $7.5 million dollar trade exception and Harrington's local ties to Indianna, the Warriors are probably nothing but a distant second in the race for Mr. Lipton. It's time to move on and focus on bigger fish. The 76ers are reportedly getting lowballed big time for Allen Iverson. It's a great time to sneak in and make a decent offer for The Answer.

Do you want the Warriors to continue to pursue Al Harrington?

Also see:

99% of rumors never happen, but 99% of them are fun to talk about!

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Comments

Let's Move On...

The Pacers' trade-exception is big enough to land a player or two of Atlanta's interest and include them in a sign-and-trade for Al Harrington.

In addition, from all indications, Harrington loves to be in Indiana moreso than anywhere else. The Warriors should just start working on another deal (if they have not done so already) because the chances to acquire Harrington is slowly slipping away, IMHO.

Bring on Allen Iverson!

by MightyReds2020 on Jul 14, 2006 10:47 AM PDT reply actions

What's so hot about India-no-place?

I frankly think otherwise but aside from being raised in the Midwest, and now living in BayArea, I have nothing to base my opinion about Harrington's preferences.

Indiana isn't on the rise -- Bird is probably going to replace Coach Carsile, O'Neal is unhappy and not a franchise player, Peja left and they got nothing for him. It's a sinking ship they'll need to rebuild.

GSW have sucked for years but the BayArea is a large market with more media visibility and if Harrington's friendship with Baron is real, he may decide to try a turn around here with a PG who's knows him. Maybe Harrington help the GSW make 8th playoff spot.

by joe sez on Jul 14, 2006 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions

J. O'Neal

I'm still hoping there's a way we can get Jermaine O'Neal. Although, not for half the team like that trade we discussed the other day.

I don't exactly see how Iverson fits in but honestly I don't care. He's awesome and hopefully not too costly at this point.

by Googs on Jul 14, 2006 12:22 PM PDT reply actions

I'd rather deal for K-MART

I know the Knicks are pursuing him, but if there was any way to swing it, Kenyon Martin would be a nice fit up front for the Warriors.

by Jeremy Belvins on Jul 14, 2006 2:08 PM PDT reply actions

no blue light specials

K-Mart is one of the most broken down players in the NBA right now. His knees are shot. I would hate to see the Warriors pick up another has-been who will be in the training room 1/2 the season. He has always been a great hustler, and a great finisher on the break, but he is very limited otherwise. If he were healthy I would consider it, but his knees are bone-on-bone and I can't see him playing much longer.

by chrisz42 on Jul 14, 2006 2:37 PM PDT up reply actions

K-Mart

Steven A Smith of the Chi-Trib often rips into K-Mart: He's a bully who doesn't play hurt.

I'd rather Mullin kept the roster than take on a K-Mart.

by joe sez on Jul 14, 2006 8:07 PM PDT up reply actions

This has dragged on long enough

Rumors suck. It's fun to talk now that we still have a chance at getting Harrington, but what if it doesn't happen? Shit needs to go down. I'm sick of thinking what could have been. We need to win, and for that to happen, we need to make some trades.

by Inno on Jul 14, 2006 8:35 PM PDT reply actions

this summer is not building for playoffs summer

this is the summer where mullin fixes his mistakes of signing players to huge contracts! what has he done that has made this team better except for trading for Baron Davis (has he even made the team better? hmm...)

by chimp on Jul 14, 2006 11:03 PM PDT reply actions