Zaza Pachulia and Jamal Crawford return for Hawks
Los Angeles– Zaza Pachulia and Jamal Crawford were back at practice Monday and expect to play Wednesday night against the Clippers.
Pachulia has missed the last two games with left hip pain. Crawford sat out the last game before the All-Star break with a sore left shoulder.
Pachulia had been inactive since playing five minutes in the Hawks’ 91-81 victory over Chicago on Feb. 5. He’s had trouble with the hip twice this season but said he hopes to avoid further problems by better managing the injury.
“I feel better after the medicine,” he said. “I feel good. The rest was good. I just need to keep it in good shape. The last time it happened once there was no pain, I kind of let it go.”
Crawford missed the Hawks’ loss to the Heat on Wednesday with a sore left shoulder. He said the pain was related to an injury he suffered in 2008 with the Knicks but that he’s over it now.
“Everything is good,” he said.
MC
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120 comments Add your comment
Astro Joe
February 16th, 2010
6:27 pm
Rose? Let’s just trade Mario West for Chris Paul and RandMo for Dwight Howard and start cutting up paper for the confetti parade.
Huge Trade
February 16th, 2010
6:35 pm
Works on trade machine
Huge trade
Rose
Dang
Noah
Miller
for
JJ
Bibby
ZaZa
Evans
GMAN013
February 16th, 2010
6:39 pm
wouldn’t it be easier just to become fans of the bulls if you’re gonna make that trade
Smaller trade
February 16th, 2010
6:44 pm
Rose and Miller for ZaZa and JJ.
Need a PG
February 16th, 2010
6:47 pm
A good PG that can utilize Josh, Marvin and Al overcomes the JJ ISO that stagments our offense and the terrible defense of Bibby with that horrible contract were locked into.
Why waste their best years
February 16th, 2010
6:49 pm
Al and Josh and to a smaller part Marvin have been living second fiddle to guard play. Time for a better future. Lets go for team ball.
O'Brien
February 16th, 2010
6:51 pm
AJ,
This is merely specualtion on my part, but if JJ signs for $20 mil, Crawford might expect $14 mil (which would make it harder for the Hawks to keep him). But if JJ signs for $16 mil, Crawford might be good with $10 mil.
For example, JJ’s contract discussions will probably start at Brandon Roy’s level. 5 years, $82 mil and go from there. JJ’s financial value to the team will help Crawford determine his financial value.
Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I’m not saying Crawford is better than JJ, because we all know he isnt. But he might see himself as being worth $4-$6 mil less than whatever JJ signs for.
Whatever it takes though, Hawks need to give JJ his money.
Najeh,
Is there anyone out there in Hawksville who dont think its about the money? Gooden will be a good pickup, because if Joe Smith gets hurt again, we could be in trouble. And Gooden will be an option instead of Joe Smith too.
Why waste their best years
February 16th, 2010
6:54 pm
GMAN013,
You seem to miss the fact we keep Josh and Al. Miller is a better fit than ZaZa. Dang is not as good as JJ but can shoot.Rose and Bibby – get real – the key to the trade.
Will it work?
February 16th, 2010
6:57 pm
O’Brien,
All of your scenarios break the bank. Unless you drop the idea of resigning Al.
Astro Joe
February 16th, 2010
7:18 pm
OB, I wouldn’t sweat how Crawford may interpret Joe’s deal. IMO, he’s not a core member of this team in the future. I think that there is a very good chance that once Joe re-signs, Crawford gets traded. Jamal was acquired in part to be an insurance policy for both Bibby (last summer) and Joe (this summer). Once Joe signs, Sund needs to determine if he wants a $10M 6th man (who will likely leave the following summer for a starting position) or trade him to address another need and add a cheaper Vinnie Johnson player.
I’ll also add this, IMO, Teague won’t fully blossom with Jamal on this team (or any other dominant combo guard). Teague is much closer to a combo guard himself than he is a pure playmaker. He needs to be free to score and that won’t likely happen if he is sharing back-up duties with Jamal. Put him in the backcourt with someone like Mo Evans, Damien Wilkins or even a previously drafted Euro project and he may find a more comfortable path to his natural game.
All about the situation
February 16th, 2010
7:24 pm
If we were a team not likely to make the playoffs Teague would get huge minutes and mature much faster. Josh is the perfect example. He had the time and minutes to grow and 5 years later it has paid off. Woody coaching for his paycheck next year has no time or patience for such thought.
Astro Joe
February 16th, 2010
7:24 pm
Gooden would be a great add because he could play minutes at C (as he has in his recent past) in case Zaza is ineffective/hurt or if Joe Smith continues to play like Alan Henderson.
Of course, a team that is still short on bigs like Portland may be able to offer him more playing time (and therefore a better opportunity to earn more than a 1-year contract this summer).
Whatever happened to Rashard McCants?
Lets blow up the team
February 16th, 2010
7:44 pm
JJ is hot, Jamal is hot. Will they be hot three years from now? I would bet on the upside of Marvin, Al and Josh. They have upside. A trade now for JJ and next year for Jamal seems only smart. Without the new CBA I might think different, but times are changing and we need to stay ahead of the curve new hard cap coming.
Michael Cunningham
February 16th, 2010
7:57 pm
by the way, Jamal reads the blog and your comments. when i asked him about the shoulder, he immediately said: “yeah, i saw they are on you about that.” FYI . . .
Jamal my man
February 16th, 2010
8:07 pm
Love your game except for one thing. You should be around 6 assists a game. If you accomplish this it would actually get you more touches and make JJ more tradeable. You are getting many of Bibby’s minutes, you are not a PG but – just saying – you have the ability to do both. Not to late to teach an old dog new tricks.
Sautee
February 16th, 2010
8:07 pm
AJ,
How can you disparage Hendu that way?
Jamal my man
February 16th, 2010
8:10 pm
No disrespect,
To JJ. Bibby is getting long in the tooth and between the two of you the bigs need touches. You know as well as I do they will kick it back much of the time. You my man are the key to the newer and better version of team ball. JJ will follow your lead – lets make it a race in assists from two stars.
Blast
February 16th, 2010
8:36 pm
That was way too funny! Two playoffs in the NBA. One for the rich teams and one for the poor!
I did think about Jamal’s injury, but it just made me realize how dependent Hawks are on this guy. Without him, Hawks are simply the same team as last year, maybe worse with no Flip. Starters can’t do it alone and if Hawks bench score 8 points in a game? Yeesh!
Astro, JJ sign with Hawks or not, I do not think Jamal will be traded, unless the trade was for a duper super center. Remember, Hawks had to make him committ not to opt out of his 2nd year. That Miami game proved that he is our entire bench. The team needs this guy now and beyond. Good to know he cares enough to see what fans think about the team by reading the blogs.
Really interested to see how Hawks handle the game tomorrow and the entire West road trip. Glad to have our top reserves back.
rusty
February 16th, 2010
10:07 pm
jj is not that good he dribbles way to much & invites double & tribble teams,unfortunately he doesnt pass out of them well. he is inconsistant & does not show up all the time,takes bad shots. if the hawks had any brains they would trade him for a center or point guard.
terrell
February 17th, 2010
9:20 am
Cant believe Charlotte lost to NJ at home. lol!