Trade season in full swing
The only place Josh Smith will have to worry about guarding Jamal Crawford next season is in practice, now that it appears Crawford is headed for the Hawks via trade.
HAWKSVILLE - One by one the texts and phone calls started coming in late Wednesday afternoon.
Hawks players wanted to know if what they were hearing was true. So did other team’s players, scouts, coaches and an assortment of other people.
“Are we really going to get Jamal Crawford?” one player asked via text. “Is this serious?”
“You really think this is going to happen?” another asked. “Man, he gets buckets. Major buckets. We could be explosive with him and all our other cats coming back.”
“This is a crucial move for them,” a Western Conference scout told me, “because it was obvious in the playoffs that they needed another scorer with some size that could create a shot.”
Not a single player, coach or executive from anywhere that I communicated with Wednesday objected to the move for the Hawks. Not one person.
Truth be told, they were going crazy about it, with one guy calling is a “master stroke” since the Hawks moved two for one without sacrificing draft picks now or in the future.
For years folks have complained around here about the Hawks not being active enough during trade season (the time before the draft through the start of training camp when all the league’s best wheeling and dealing is done). Well, you’ve got your wish.
And you can dissect it every which way now that it appears that Crawford will join the Hawks in exchange for Acie Law IV and Speedy Claxton being sent to Golden State (the only detail left is for Crawford to sign an agreement saying he won’t exercise the opt-out clause in his contract).
Of course, the Hawks aren’t the only team working the trade season to their advantage. Deals are to be had for teams looking to add and subtract players and salaries in an effort to retool for the coming season. LeBron James and Shaq appear to be headed for a whirlwind season in Cleveland. Mike Miller and Randy Foye will bolster the playing rotation for Flip Saunders in Washington after the Wizards pawned off a lottery pick and some spare parts for real players in a deal with Minnesota. And Richard Jefferson’s arrival from Milwaukee (for scraps) breathes new life into a San Antonio team that seemed headed for an eternal ice bath in the playoffs.
There will surely be more craziness to come, perhaps even during tonight’s draft. But make no mistake about it, the teams moving and shaking now are the ones positioning themselves for the future (immediately for teams like the Hawks, Spurs, Wizards and Cavaliers and not-so-immediately for the Timberwolves and Warriors).
I’m an advocate of bold moves. I’m a fan of bold moves that produce immediate results. And for a franchise that for the longest time was immune to them, the Hawks have a decent track record on their most recent deals of that nature.
In the summer of 2005 they went after Joe Johnson, then a restricted free agent in Phoenix, and immediately changed their fortunes (it didn’t happen overnight but going from 13 wins to 47 in four years started with that bold stroke). 1-for-1.
They swung for the warning track with Claxton the following summer, hoping like crazy that he could solve their point guard quagmire and deliver them to playoff contention faster than a rookie or youngster only to have that plan blow up in their face after Claxton’s knee’s gave out. 1-for-2.
They gambled on Mike Bibby being able to get them over the proverbial hump and into the playoffs at the trade deadline two years ago and cashed in with back-to-back trips to the playoffs, including home court advantage this season en route to a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals. 2-for-3.
The Hawks' point guard of the future could be Wake Forest star Jeff Teague.
The played roulette last summer with their own free agents, Josh Smith and Josh Childress, allowing the market to set the price on what they should be paid and lost one (Childress to Greece) and hung on to the other one (Smith, who signed an offer sheet from Memphis that the Hawks matched before the ink dried), and then followed that up by adding veterans Flip Murray and Mo Evans to help fill the void. Murray finished in the same spot in the Sixth-Man voting that Childress did the year before and Evans stabilize things late in the year when Marvin Williams went down with a severe back injury for the final month and half of the regular season. 3-for-4.
This deal for Crawford makes sense for so many reasons, as the digital tag-team duo of Mark Bradley and Jeff Schultz have already pointed out in separate takes on this latest roll of the red, white and blue dice.
Crawford certainly sounds like he’s pleased with the move, especially when you consider the situation he’s coming from in Golden State. And just like when the Hawks acquired Bibby and the skeptics wondered how he’d fit, things worked out because Bibby was a seasoned pro that knew what was expected of him when he came here and he delivered. I suspect Crawford’s situation will be similar in that he’ll come here realizing that this is his chance to shut up his doubters and prove that he can be a part of a winning operation.
Much like Bibby was when he arrived, Crawford might be a short term solution to a problem in need of a long-term answer. There’s no doubt the Hawks are still in need of their “point guard of the future.” And that’s where the true beauty of this deal for Crawford has been a bit overlooked. The Hawks didn’t have to include the 19th pick in the draft to get the backcourt insurance needed if unrestricted free agents Bibby and Murray aren’t re-signed this summer (and Crawford’s arrival doesn’t necessarily signal the departure of either guy. In fact, the Hawks would be best suited to find a way to keep them all in the fold if they want to solidify their ranks).
They still have that draft chip to snag the guy they want and need. They have studied all their point guard options up close and personal the past two months. They’ve seen Jeff Teague, Ty Lawson, Toney Douglas and Eric Maynor in person, had them all in for workouts at Philips Arena and had a chance to ponder what each one would look like alongside Johnson, Smith, Al Horford and the rest of the gang.
Whatever happens, they won’t go into next week’s open of free agency from a position of weakness where Bibby and Murray are concerned. They’ll operate from a position of strength with a chance to nail down the present and future at the position all at once.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,267 comments Add your comment
chuckw/deadjournalist
June 25th, 2009
10:00 pm
blair is outstanding value at this point in the draft
Billy Nite
June 25th, 2009
10:01 pm
no blair whats uo
Fire Sund and Woody
June 25th, 2009
10:01 pm
With the news that Amare is available, I hope we ship Josh Smith and whatever else necessary to PHX for Amare. Stephen Curry has been rumored to be moving as well. We should strike another deal with Golden State, sending Marvin and Teague to GS for Curry and Wright. We could then re-sign Bibby OR sign Jack to play the point and Flip to back him up. We also need to trade a future pick and move back up to take Blair. I’m sure I am living in a fantasy world, but this team is closer to a 35 win team than a 50 win team. We have no true PG, no superstar, a lack of dead-eye shooters and only one effective big in Al. Marvin and Josh Smith must go.
Jack, Crawford, JJ, Horford, Amare
Flip, Curry, Evans, Blair, Zaza
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:02 pm
And PS – the Lakers just SOLD their draft pick for cash while we traded two expiring contracts for a guy who’s making $20M over the next two years. So seriously, I’m laughing my a$$ off at that idea…
Wabe
June 25th, 2009
10:02 pm
Blair’s still there.
He would be a S T E A L at this point.
Someone in one of those draft rooms needs to pop in the game tape for his 2 games vs UCONN…
He man-handled Hasheem Thabeet
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:03 pm
We no longer have tradeable salary assets to package for Amare or Bosh. Speedy’s contract was the only “filler” we had.
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:04 pm
And here comes Blair…I can feel it.
infamouskrs
June 25th, 2009
10:05 pm
sick and tired of fans SMASHIN on SMOOVE the guy is regarded as many as a future ALLSTAR !
Good Grief
June 25th, 2009
10:05 pm
niremetal, I wouldn’t want to put the Hawks bank up against the Lakers bank right now…who knows maybe there’s a slim possibility we have a bit more money but I’m not willing to bet on it…
mykhalc
June 25th, 2009
10:05 pm
yo doc…you know i have to admit i didn’t watch a lot of GSW last season. my scoutin’ report is marked incomplete on him. now with Amare and Curry this season, i’ll watch ‘em just to see how much they score…and how much they give up!!!LOL oh yeah, gotta watch Acie too. wishin’ him the best now that he’s free from the CLUELESS ONE!!!
The Flash
June 25th, 2009
10:06 pm
Jeff Tigue is gonna be a great point. Great! Crawford is gonna allow JJ to move to the 3, which will get him more active and have him attrack much more attention without the ball which will open the middle. These are two excellent additions. The Hawks became much more exciting. Look for more rim attacks by JS, JJ, and Tiegue, whose floater and pull up I love. Very good moves!!!!
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:06 pm
Lol. Nevermind.
HB Ando
June 25th, 2009
10:07 pm
Nire, I’ve been pushing for a center since before you started law school. No, really.
And Shaq played 70 games in Phoenix this past season, and hired a personal trainer to replicate the the workout routine he had there. So, I’ll take the over on 50 games, and highlight that it’s more valuable that he plays those games after the all-star break and during the playoffs. This is also a contract year, and he wants an extension (never dismiss the pro athlete playing in a contract year). He ALSO wants a fifth ring, to pass Kobe and Duncan.
I ain’t saying he’s a slam dunk, in Cleveland, but your casual dismissal of both the player, and his realistic impact on the Eastern Conference, seems either uneducated or confusingly agenda-driven.
Hope the shiny law degree is doing you well….
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:07 pm
Good Grief,
Do you know what operating profit means? No? Ok.
chuckw/deadjournalist
June 25th, 2009
10:08 pm
sam young to the wolves – this time
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:08 pm
Ando,
Shaq said he’s probably retiring after this year, so I don’t know if this qualifies as a contract year for him…
richbrave
June 25th, 2009
10:09 pm
While ZWIZARDS fans look on and forward to the second round.
mykhalc
June 25th, 2009
10:09 pm
JJ…attack the rim??? which JJ you talkin’ about Flash??? Joe gets to the rim ’cause he can take advantage of his size at 2. won’t be the case at 3…IMHO
mykhalc
June 25th, 2009
10:10 pm
and he gets into the lane more than gettin’ to the rim!
Big Ray
June 25th, 2009
10:11 pm
Here’s what NBADraft.net had to say about Teague, predraft:
NBA Comparison: Kevin Johnson
Strengths: An extremely quick and explosive guard … A natural scorer, plays at full throttle the entire game, constantly putting pressure on the defense … Has great open court speed and loves to push the ball in transition, where his skill set allows him to maneuver around defenders as well as finish at the rim … Plays with great confidence and possesses a killer instinct … Keeps his dribble alive and continuously probes the defense for openings … He is very good at using his body to shield the ball from help defenders when finishing in the lane, he is able to adjust his finishes in mid air, making it very difficult to block him … His first step is well complemented with a nice variety of hesitation and crossover moves off the dribble … Constantly changing up speed and direction makes him very unpredictable, and hard to contain … Extremely good at getting into the lane where he can find open teammates on drive & dish situations … Knows how to draw contact and doesn’t shy away, as a result he is very good at getting to the line, where he converts at a very good clip (85%) … Has improved on his shooting consistency in every category, even showing more confidence is the midrange game … Great hands and foot speed allow him to be a menace on the defensive end at times … Has shown that when he puts his mind to it, he has the tools to stay in front of pretty much anyone at the college level …
Weaknesses: Slight frame gives strong guards the advantage of bodying him and taking away his driving angles … He is not a pure PG, even though he has good vision and decent ability to deliver the ball, he lacks the mentality of a playmaker … Would be in a more natural position playing off the ball, but at 6-2, defensively he would be a walking mismatch … At times very wild and out of control, often overpenetrating and trying to make plays far more difficult than they have to be … His Assist to TO ratio is almost 1/1 for his career, directly speaking on his inability to read the action and make correct plays … He has become a more consistent shooter, but his stroke is still awkward as he shoots it infront of his face, and he takes too long to set his feet. He also shoots a “palmball” instead of getting the ball off of his fingers, but it works so probably no sense in changing it … Still lacks a reliable in-between game, his touch from the midrange is a bit shaky; if he isn’t at the rim, his floater and teardrops are much more inconsistent … Takes a lot of bad shots that come early in the shot clock and are out of the offense … Defensively he lacks focus and fails to put in a consistent effort … A lot of his shortcomings are a direct result of inexperience, he possesses some great tools which should help along in his development … He would benefit as a floor general and playmaker by returning for his junior season, but with such a breakout season, it’s likely he will be drafted based on his potential to develop those skills on the fly, and a high draft pick will be difficult to pass up …
Wabe
June 25th, 2009
10:12 pm
They said the Cavs have one of the most expensive backups in the game now. Haha. What do yall think about Illgaskus?
Think the Hawks can maybe resign Zaza and then maybe trade him over to Cleveland in a deal? Know it would never happen, but just something till 49…
Melvin
June 25th, 2009
10:12 pm
Good pick for Minny at 28…
chuckw/deadjournalist
June 25th, 2009
10:12 pm
sam young, anyone? anyone?
SB
June 25th, 2009
10:12 pm
Teauge is closer to Law than Bibby, but he shoots it a lot better than Law. I don’t think the Hawks plan on bringing back Flip.
Anakin Joe
June 25th, 2009
10:13 pm
T Wolves did well. They come out with Rubio/Ellington/Jefferson/Love. I don’t know about Corey Brewer but with that team, he only needs to run the floor and play defense. Nice job. And they will get something when they trade Jonny Flynn.
Good Grief
June 25th, 2009
10:14 pm
Nire, not going to argue bout it man. If that’s where you want to go do it with somebody else. Of course I know what that means, its mandatory since I own a small business. I wouldn’t want to put ours against there’s and that’s where I stand. If you’re willing too than so be it – no reason to go back and forth about money that’s not mines.
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:14 pm
Wabe,
If we need defense at the pivot, Ilgauskas is most definitely NOT the way to go…
mykhalc
June 25th, 2009
10:15 pm
not a true PG…where the hell have i heard that before??? if we don’t re-sign BIBBY i submit to all, we NEVER REALLY WANTED a true PG!!!
Mike is back
June 25th, 2009
10:16 pm
Nire, Bibby is all but gone with the Crawford trade…I’m impress with what I seen so far…I think we go Big with second pick and Big in FA…Chill and Anderson either will make this one of the most productive off-season in a loooooooooooooooooong time.
HALLA @ YA BOY!!!!!!!
Fire Sund and Woody
June 25th, 2009
10:16 pm
Infamous,
Your boy Josh Smith couldn’t beat me in horse. He can’t shoot, he’s out of control, a headcase. All he can do is jump out of the gym. He possesses all the athleticism in the world, but he’s not a 3 and he’s not a 4. Josh Smith will not be a future all star!
Marvin Williams and Josh Smith’s contracts are all the tradeable salary assets we need to move. This team needs another big to take the pressure off of Horford. Josh Smith is not it. Marvin Williams will never be successful in ATL. He will always be regarded as the guy we took instead of CP3 and Dero. He needs a change of scenery, and Josh Smith needs to get the heck out of town.
G-Man
June 25th, 2009
10:17 pm
Dang it guys there goes our man Toney Douglas.
kgbsfinst
June 25th, 2009
10:17 pm
Blair has no ACL in either of his legs, that has to be the only reason he hasnt been taken. Like people are saying, he is a beast, but teams dont think his knees will hold up very long. Still at this point, it would still be a good pick, even if he only gives you five solid years.
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:19 pm
Good Grief,
Sorry. Didn’t mean to be snide, but most people around here who talk about ASG not having money pretty much don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. I’ll just say this – the company that owns the Hawks also owns Phillips Arena, and that venue has most definitely NOT lost money in the past few years. The Lakers have been overbloated for years with staff and scouting, and it caught up to them when the recession hit. I would lay good money that ASG’s parent company posted less of a loss than the Lakers’ this year.
That would be why the Hawks made a payroll-increasing move while the Lakers sold their pick. For cash. And nothing else.
Anakin Joe
June 25th, 2009
10:20 pm
Dajuan Summers to Cleveland?
HB Ando
June 25th, 2009
10:22 pm
Dang, Matt, no way to reconcile that I heard he’s looking for a two-year extension. If you’re right, I’m wrong (except for his perceived value in the upcoming season). If I’m right, you’re way off base on one of the most dominant centers in the history of the league, with 4 rings going into this season.
Both he and Z seem to be 24-minute players now, so the idea of having both of them adds up. The matchups against everyone else in the East, save Orlando and Boston, are irrelevant.
The Cavs clearly didn’t match up with Orlando, despite their regular season record. Doing nothing to address the front line mismatch would logically lead to a repeat. Adding one of the best big men in the history of the league seems a worthy shot, especially since they gave up a back up swing man and a “ready to retire/be bought out” Wallace, who has both quit, and is no longer able to get around upgraded NBA drug testing policies.
What’s the downside of getting rid of Wallace and Sasha-Who for the possibility that Shaq is motivated to make history on the downside of his career?
Melvin
June 25th, 2009
10:22 pm
I like Dajuan Summers… What happen to Derrick Brown…
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:23 pm
And Blair falls to the second round. No guaranteed contract for him…
jhan
June 25th, 2009
10:23 pm
who?
Melvin
June 25th, 2009
10:24 pm
Is this the Recession Draft or what? Teams are selling and making picks with no intentions of signing these players for the upcoming season…
Anakin Joe
June 25th, 2009
10:25 pm
Portland still gets Blair to help out their Care Bear. Or worse, Wizards grab him since they have a collection of shoot-first guards that only exceeds your Atlanta Hawks.
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:26 pm
Ando,
Shaq said back in September that he’d be retiring in 2010. Haven’t heard anything since then and knowing Shaq, he might have changed his mind 5 times since then. But beyond the explicit statements, Shaq is a proud guy, and my guess is that he won’t stick around unless he can keep putting up at least 14 and 7, and those days are fast coming to a close for him…
Sautee
June 25th, 2009
10:27 pm
Funny how so many posters can be negative when they hide behind a fake blog names. Or maybe it’s more pitiful than funny.
kirkinga
June 25th, 2009
10:30 pm
terrell barron, um, I thought I was the leader of the Optimist Camp? What happen? Was I deposed?
bigdave, you’re right. It does look like a money thing as of now. I have no problem with anyone calling Bibby out on his defense, my problem is that people either overlook, or underplay the results. It’s all about winning and the Hawks didn’t do much of that until Bibby arrived.
Ray I think you’ve misunderstood me so let me be really clear. Bibby is no victim. The Atlanta Hawks basketball team is the victim! Sund is right to run things as he sees them, but it’s all about results. If he can’t look and see that his team didn’t win much until Bibby arrived then he’s watching himself and not the team.
I give him praise for the Crawford deal so this isn’t blind animus I have for the man. I really am worried that without Bibby, this team takes a step (or two) back, and possibly diminishes the Crawford trade if he has to play significant minutes at the 1.
It’s all about winning. If Sund makes more moves that improves our frontcourt, I’ll be happy. But letting your(still effective) floor general go without a proven replacement isn’t good basketball.
Go Hawks!!
Anakin Joe
June 25th, 2009
10:31 pm
Tell them JVG… rebounding matters.
fudd21
June 25th, 2009
10:31 pm
Can we make a move to get DeJuan Blair. Heck I would even take a shot on Patty Mills. I just don’t see Teague being a leader. Wake Forest got beat in the first round with 2 first round picks. Too much talent for them to finish the year the way they did.
Good Grief
June 25th, 2009
10:33 pm
Ok Nire, I see where you’re coming from – good points.
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:34 pm
kirkinga,
How do you know that Crawford wasn’t brought in to replace Flip rather than to replace Bibby? And before you say “salary,” keep in mind that the salary we traded away was about as much as we took back, so this trade did not alter our financial ability to re-sign Bibby.
H/t to Ray for getting me to see that, btw.
Anakin Joe
June 25th, 2009
10:36 pm
What happened to Mike Tirico? Stuart Scott asks really bad questions. Did he forgetthat Deng is signed to a very long contract?
Anakin Joe
June 25th, 2009
10:37 pm
Unbelievable, Wizards draft a combo guard. Because Arenas and Foye were insufficient.
niremetal
June 25th, 2009
10:37 pm
Yesterday I said the Wizards’ brass had 9 brain cells between them. Today, I was proven wrong. They have 7.