Atlanta Hawks: Summer reading: Al, Jamal, Etan and Pape
It's still looking like No. 15 comes before No. 11.
It still doesn’t look like the Hawks are going to offer Jamal Crawford the kind of long-term contract extension he’s looking for, and it still looks like an extension for Al Horford will be GM Rick Sund’s priority when he returns from vacation.
The Hawks can offer Horford an extension that starts in 2011-12 and is worth up to $82 million over five years. The deadline for a deal is Oct. 31.
The incentive for the Hawks to offer Horford the extension is to prevent him from becoming a restricted free agent next summer and signing an offer sheet they’d have to match to keep him. Signing Horford to an extension now would provide cost certainty. It also would provide security for Al, who would get a big-money deal without doing the RFA song-and-dance.
But the uncertainty cuts both ways for the Hawks. The next CBA could be more favorable to owners, and the maximum offer sheet available to Al next summer could be significantly less than $82 million. The same could be true were Al to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2012.
The potential risk for the Hawks in skipping the extension and letting the market dictate Al’s worth is he might become disgruntled. But I doubt that would happen, as Al seemed to understand it’s just business when I talked to him last: “I really can’t get too caught up in that. I really just have to go out and play. If something happens and I get an extension, great. If it doesn’t, I just have to keep playing and keep getting better.”
The money train just keeps on rolling for the Hawks, with each expenditure maintaining their proverbial “core” but squeezing their resources and roster flexibility. They paid Bibby and Marvin last summer. They paid J.J. this summer. They may have to pay Al now or next summer.
The AJC’s Mark Bradley calls it the increasing price of NBA success. Or, as one NBA exec joked, nothing ever stays the same for a good team because everyone wants to be paid or and nothing ever stays the same for a bad team because everyone is subject to being fired or traded.
Sund’s philosophy plays into this, too. For the most part he lets his employees finish out their contracts before offering new deals (or not). When Sund was Seattle’s GM, Ray Allen had to hit the open market before securing a deal he liked from the Sonics. Rashard Lewis become an unrestricted free agent and ended up in Orlando.
The most recent exception to Sund’s reluctance to extend vets is, of course, the maximum extension offer for J.J. last summer. But J.J. seems to be an exception to Sund’s general rule. Sund has been consistent in his belief that J.J. is a franchise cornerstone whom the Hawks couldn’t allow to walk if they hoped to maintain their momentum. ASG was on board with that sentiment and J.J. got his max deal this summer.
Sund is a Crawford fan, too, and why shouldn’t he be? Jamal made him look smart for swinging that trade, and while it’s not like the Hawks gave up much to get him, it was no sure thing Jamal would work here. It did work–so well, as it turns out, that Crawford had a big year and now is angling for one last big contract. Success is expensive.
As for Jamal’s value on the trade market, I’m told at least three teams inquired about his availability before the pay-me-or-trade-me news came out but were rebuffed by the Hawks. I’ve got to think Sund will try to re-establish those talks now and listen to any other offers that come in. I know there’s some sentiment to just deny Jamal the extension and have him report to camp (and he would), but would it be a good look for the Hawks to have an unhappy camper?
– The Hawks are expected to sign free agent center Etan Thomas within the next few days. The one-year deal would be worth the ninth-year vet’s minimum of $1.2 million, though the league would reimburse the Hawks for any amount above $854,389.
–The report saying Pape Sy reached a buyout agreement with Le Havre is inaccurate. It still could happen, and soon, but there are some significant financial issues to work out.
– Hawks single-game tickets will go on sale Sept. 27.
MC
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213 comments Add your comment
SteveW
September 2nd, 2010
12:42 pm
Grandad – Great list of great players. I think mine would be more conventional:
Dwight – If I was going to start a team from scratch, and could get 1 player, I think it would be Dwight. He causes so many match-up problems, and is healthy.
LeBron
KDurant
DWade
Kobe
With Gasol a close 6th. I’m glad to see somebody else think’s Gasol is a top tier player besides me. The guy is so unstoppable in so many ways – and reports say he closer to 7-3 instead of 7-1. Just like they say KDurant 6-11 1/2 and not the listed 6-9.
And DeRon Williams 7th…I like Chris Paul, but let’s see how he comes back from his injury.
rusty
September 2nd, 2010
1:12 pm
i dont think that jj wanted to be here but couldnt turn all that cash down
Rev in Tampa
September 2nd, 2010
2:02 pm
Rusty, how do you know JJ doesn’t want to be here? Besides his ill-advised statements in the playoffs last year, can you offer any proof?
Derrick Williams
September 2nd, 2010
2:23 pm
Trade Josh Smith and Crawford for a quality power forward if you can get one. Josh Smith the link the Hawks need to get rid of. He attitude is some sh** and he isnt a team player, he is selfish.
Grandad
September 2nd, 2010
2:30 pm
SteveW
I went by [listed] pos.
Rev in Tampa
September 2nd, 2010
2:45 pm
Grandad, check your e-mail.
SteveW
September 2nd, 2010
3:12 pm
Grandad – Aaaah – didn’t notice – looking forward to your next trade – let’s just get these Hawks to the next level
King Teezo
September 2nd, 2010
4:18 pm
Everyone is trade bait to me except for JJ (contract is ugly) and Horford (a better and defensive Boozer)…I just can’t get over team play and trust issues with this team and really think they have reached their limit together…I would rather them start over (its not like we’re not used to sorry Hawk teams anyway, lol) and build around JJ n Horford, which means go out and find a better than average PG n C first and foremost with some players to compliment those dudes…Peace…
Sleepy
September 2nd, 2010
5:00 pm
Rufus1 Rufus who said jamal was elite ? No one said he was all nba
You dont know what you are talking about if you think Korver or Outlaw has the same skillset as Jamal . They are NO WHERE CLOSE. JR Smith no where close and he would have a problem playing for any other team besides the Nuggets who have allowed him to get away with more stuff than most teams. He was dumped by Hornets and never touched by the Bulls before landing in Denver and was on good behavior one year to get that 16 mil and has attitude and behavior has gotten worse every year since then .
Please provide us with a link to where Crawford has had a ATTITUDE PROBLEM ? You are just making this stuff up as you go along .
Jamal was 18 and 3 and forced you to defend him with your #1 or #2 perimeter defender there is not another bench person in the league that does that .. We didnt ask Crawford to play setup man and he was more than willing and able to as he came here getting almost 5 assists per game.
Jamals value is that he can play both guard positions and basically is a starting caliber shooting guard coming off the bench
Why are we only watching the 4th quarter of these games ? You make no sense with this stuff especially that you think JJ is worth 22 million . Did you see the playoffs ? Bosh is not worth 22 million either but if JJ is the #3 sg and Crawford is the #10 sg in the nba then how come JJ is worth 22 million and Crawford is not worth 8-9 million ?
Kobe
Wade
JJ
Roy
Manu
Iggy
VC
Ray Allen
Rip
JC1
The hilarious thing is someone has now said that suddenly paying jamal 8-9 million at age 30 for 3 years somehow some big risk
.
Ray ray is 35 yrs old
Manu,VC,Terry 33 yrs old
Rip,Sjax 32 yrs old
I would say that if we were to extend Jamal to a 3 year 26 million dollar extension it would be a great deal and its still quite less than the majority of the rest of the over 30 sg’s have gotten the past couple of seasons .
I know we are not going to pay the luxury tax but instead of people just owning up to knowing the team would never pay they try and rip Jamal who has been nothing short of fantastic since hes been a hawk .
I look at a ton of these trades and they are a step back and I feel that we shouldnt accept going backwards at all.
N.D.T.K.A.
September 2nd, 2010
6:47 pm
Jamal Crawford is a well-spoken, energetic talent off of the bench no doubt. The problem remains:
A) J.Crawford is defensively a liability for the Hawks.
B) Hawks drafted Jordan Crawford who will potentially replace J.Crawford and Hawks have too much money tied up into the SG position to give Crawford an extension.
C)Crawford last year at times played good team ball breaking down defenses and dishing to open team mates, but as the season wore on Crawford basically became a second unit iso-Joe stagnating the rest of the team offensively and defensively in the playoffs.
D) Horford will receive the money Crawford is looking for, Crawford’s request for an extension at this time during the year is indicative of the fact that Crawford is not looking to take a discount to stay with the team but more a sign that other players are getting paid so where’s my money.
If J.Crawford is traded please try to package Mike Bibby and or Mo Evans as their contracts are roadblocks to the financial assts and player depth of the Hawks. Regardless to what you make think Mike Bibby is no assistance to the Hawks except maybe tutoring J. Teague and should never be on the floor with J. Crawford period (two matador defenders).
rusty
September 2nd, 2010
7:24 pm
rev in tampa
do you really think jj was happy here last year. he didnt like shareing the glory with jc,he didnt like the fact that many fans liked jc style of play better than his. he didnt like being called iso joe,he didnt like jc. last year he opened his big mouth saying that he thought he was an elite player & then he had to try to prove it by taking the ball over in the forth quarter.he put tremendous pressure on him self & then showed the world that he couldnt deliver. i dont know why anyone would think he would be happy in taking a smaller role getting less shots & monopolizing the ball less. i think he will have even more pressure on himself to prove he is worth all of that money. i dont know what to make of these fans who think jj is worth 2 to 3 times more money than jc
drmaryb (*_*)
September 2nd, 2010
11:22 pm
rusty
Calm down man, JC1 is not Joe Johnson! Joe plays lock down defense, assists, rebounds, carries this team! Joe does it all – all the time!
He needs help! Just like LeBron needed help! LeBron did NOTHING by himself!
What has he won? Not a damned thing! And ran like a girl to So. Beach!
Get off Joe’s back! You know NOTHING about basketball!
Joe IS the Hawks! 13 wins upon his arrival!
Go back to sleep – man!
drmaryb (*_*)
September 3rd, 2010
1:27 am
She got a Donk!
SteveW asked: “Drmaryb – How about Jamal, Marvin, and a 1st pick next year for Kirelenko and Feresenko (Utah should sign him any day now – RFA). There’s your beef! All 7-1 300+ lbs. of him.”
Take the 1st pick out of there and I might pull the trigga’ on a Gat!
That works for me! I like Beef-Cakes!
This trade would make the Hawks a reallyn really big team!
I like Big – Things! Wink-Wink!