Atlanta Hawks: Danny Ferry focused on salary cap ‘flexibility’ with trades
The word new Hawks GM Danny Ferry kept using after the draft Thursday was “flexibility” and nothing would create it more than trading guard Joe Johnson’s contract for players with shorter deals.
The Hawks were not close to any trades as of this afternoon, according to a person with knowledge of their plans, but talks are fluid. They’ve continued discussions with the Nets about Johnson, and clearly Brooklyn (feels weird to write that) has plenty of expiring contracts to offer in return.
Update 4:55 p.m.: ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reports that a discussed proposal would have the Nets sending Atlanta Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow and Jordan Williams. According to Stein, the Hawks are insisting that former Tucker High star MarShon Brooks be included in the deal while Brooklyn would rather Atlanta take on one of its free agents in a sign-and-trade.
Stein also reports the Nets won’t make the trade until free agent guard Deron Williams commits to re-signing. Williams reportedly will meet with Brooklyn and Dallas tomorrow.
The Hawks could swing a deal that leaves them with massive amounts of cap space next summer. The Nets also have about $4.4 million in trade exceptions available, which function as a credit to be used against the salary-matching requirements. That means the Hawks could take back significantly less salary in a trade with the Nets.
It’s still possible all of this trade talk leads to no deals now and the Hawks wait until later in the summer or next season to pursue trades. But already it’s clear that Ferry is willing to trade a piece of the team’s proverbial “core” in an effort to gain cap space to re-build the roster.
In addition to Johnson, the Hawks have been open to moving forward Josh Smith though they’ve resisted offers so far. Apparently the Hawks balked at a potential deal with the Lakers for Pau Gasol because L.A. wanted another major piece to go along with Smith. That would leave the Hawks with less than six players under contract, less talent, and no short-term cap relief because of the $38 million and two years remaining on Gasol’s contract.
Before Ferry was hired, Smith told the Hawks he wants to be traded to a franchise he considers to be more committed to winning a championship. There’s been no indication that Smith has changed his mind after Ferry’s hire, which does nothing to placate Smith’s desire to also play in what he believes to be a better sports market. Smith’s contract expires after next season.
Ferry said he plans to meet with Smith soon.
“I have talked to Josh, and we agreed to get together,” he said. “It was a positive conversation.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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564 comments Add your comment
richbrave
July 2nd, 2012
7:22 am
Just wanted to swing by and say that I thought the picks made were good ones. I think you’ll like MIKE SCOTT. I say that because I’ve seen him play. My grandson gets free tickets as he’s verbally committed to UVA in baseball. He’ll be down for the East Coast [East Cobb] baseball extravaganza starting the sixth.
richbrave
July 2nd, 2012
7:24 am
Reading the article, maybe JOSH wants to pile on in MIAMI. Heh!
Jason S
July 2nd, 2012
7:28 am
A source close to the situation confirmed reports that Howard requested a trade yet again Friday, telling new Magic general manager Rob Hennigan that he wanted out during a meeting in Los Angeles. The source said the Magic’s ears are certainly open for business when it comes to trade calls now, and various reports indicate talks are heating up with the Hawks, Lakers and Nets.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/sam_amick/07/02/nba-free-agency-steve-nash-dwight-howard-deron-williams/index.html#ixzz1zSo8bgH9
Ray
July 2nd, 2012
7:33 am
A bit of updates.
Anyone after Andre Miller we lost out on him don’t know the deal with Steve Nash some people saying it’s unture that deal he got.
As for Dwight Howard HE IS ONLY RESIGNING WITH ONE TEAM THAT IS NOT ATLANTA HAWKS IT’S THE BROOKLYN NETS.
So now for those still stupid enough to trade Al Horford to Magic we just lost another good player for absolutely nothing at all.
This coming from Wojnarowski twitter page.
Again I say just getting out from under Joe Johnson’s contract is a blessing in disguise for this franchise maybe Josh isn’t a number 1 option I can agree, but until I see CP3 or someone comparable walk through that door I’d take my chances on Josh and Horford being co no. 1 options.
Ray
July 2nd, 2012
7:40 am
Some things I did not know.
We rank 13th in total commericals according to hoopshype and Josh is our most marketable player on that list in terms of commericals though.
Well actually it was T-mac last year, but on a normal year it’s Josh.
Way down the list is Horford at 72
Then a little more down is Joe Johnson at well their tied for #72.
Ray
July 2nd, 2012
7:41 am
Oh Josh was No. 24
NCBravesFan
July 2nd, 2012
7:42 am
After giving this a little thought, seems to me the Hawks have to trade JJ now. If they don’t, they’ll risk a polarized locker room and a ticked off JJ. Not a good way to start the season. It may not be the Nets, but I’d be shocked if he’s here much longer.
As the saying goes … “If you’re going to kill the king, you better be sure to kill the king.”
As for Dwight, I’d say pass. He doesn’t want to play here, so why pay out assets for a guy who will promptly leave at the end of the year?
Jae Evolution
July 2nd, 2012
7:48 am
Why wouldn’t you trade for Dwight? Let’s say the Nets trade for JJ and re-sign D-Will just to entice him to want to go to BK even more. They would have close to 50m dedicated to just THREE guys, Dwight would have to take a HUGE paycut to even come close to playing there, not happening.
Just because in Dwight’s little world he thinks and says he will only play for one team, that’s not always how it works out.
myrak43
July 2nd, 2012
7:48 am
I would still rather trade Horford for Dwight even if it is a rental…… at least you would show the fans you trade to bring in a big time player. bring in Dwight and give him a reason to stay. just win baby win!!!!!!!!!
myrak43
July 2nd, 2012
7:49 am
besides I bet in a year or two MIKE SCOTT turns out to be just as good as Horford.
Jae Evolution
July 2nd, 2012
7:51 am
I for one think Ferry is trying to rob Nets of all their assets so in turn HE can make a trade for Dwight while also freeing up a ton of cap next season when he would eventually re-sign both him and Josh to big contracts. Something like Horford, Brooks and 2 first rounders for Dwight.
KevinM
July 2nd, 2012
7:58 am
Gotta get a Joe deal done first. They’ll be other teams in the hunt as well. If DWill commits to the Nets, then Joe might be an option in Dallas. We would have to take back come bad contracts though so I would prefer to look elsewhere.
What are other teams offering? It would be wise for the Nets to bend a bit because if we want their free agents, we can get them afterwards. I would definitely ask for Brooks as that is better than ‘overpaying’ for Terry or Ray Allen…..both of whom I would hate to see Boston get.
KevinM
July 2nd, 2012
8:02 am
Wow Jae, imwouldmhave to think long and hard on that one. If you could convince me Josh would play inside, I’m all in for that deal……
We then have….
D12 / Josh / Teague with the small ‘hope’ D12 and Josh resign here…..talk about a dilemma that would take all year to resolve!! We would have to compete very well to keep them here IMO.
KevinM
July 2nd, 2012
8:07 am
Realgm.com reporting Joe being discussed among 6 teams? I would love to hear who else is engaged with Ferry on this one.
And I thought we had a few PFs? Did you notice Houston has SEVEN on their roster?
If anything, Joe should not bring us back a PF.
darrell starks
July 2nd, 2012
8:28 am
Trade Joe for a bunch Bags, are you kidding me, do us as true Hawks fans really want go back to 20games a year, HELL NO.
Nothing is guarantee in the lottery so why would anybody want starte all over and rebuild unless the team is old as dirt like the Celtics, who is hanging on by the thread because they understand how hard is to get back on top, that why they traded for superstar and started the big 3 trend.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Professor X
July 2nd, 2012
8:36 am
I still don’t understand the sentiment of completely blowing up the Hawks up thinking the end result will be OKC. There is a better chance a blow up of the team plan will end up like…. Sacramento, Golden State, Washington, Charlotte, etc. Also with our stuglling fan base, a rebuilding project that takes probably 4 or 5 seasons will land this team in Seattle.
darrell starks
July 2nd, 2012
8:45 am
If the Hawks trade Joe get some talent back no a bunch scrubs, look the Hawks are still young, if Danny is talking about tearing down the team and starting all over he better be carefull, it took the Hawks 8years to get back to atleast being contender, do season ticket holders and true Hawks fans want this 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years or even longer to get back in playoffs, go ask Celtics, Clippers, and many other teams, who trying to do the same thing every year and rebuild and continue 2 lose fans and revenue as the years go on.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NCBravesFan
July 2nd, 2012
8:45 am
Jae: you can certainly make the case for bringing Dwight here and he would generate a lot of excitement in ATL. But if you go back to what Ferry said at his press conference last week, it doesn’t seem very likely.
Ferry at this point has not built up the organization the way he envisions it in terms of player development, facilities and overall staff. And quite frankly, I have a hard time believing that Larry Drew is “his” coach.
ATL will never be Los Angeles or New York in terms of media, endorsements and the like. So the trick here will be to sell the city, the program and “the Hawks way” – as Ferry envisions it to be – to players. Then you go get players who fit into a program like that.
So from my vantage point the time for a Dwight-like acquisition, tempting though it may be, is not here yet.
darrell starks
July 2nd, 2012
8:53 am
Trade Joe to a team with Valuable asset, yes Joe make 20mill but there are team with talent will take on his contract.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
July 2nd, 2012
8:59 am
Laker
Knicks
Grizzles
And other teams out there.
Why make it so easy for the Nets to have there big three.
D William, Joe, D 12
Will contend for a title the next 6years OR longer.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
July 2nd, 2012
9:02 am
Bulls, Heat, and now Nets.
As the Hawks fall back hoping they land a superstar, it could be years on down the road before that happen.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glenn
July 2nd, 2012
9:04 am
I would have to think that Dwight Howard coming out and saying that he will only sign long term with the Nets will make JJ harder to trade to NJ . I would also think that Orlando will now have a harder time trading him to anyone else . I also think Dwight Howard has shown himself to be a miserable self serving a$$ .
darrell starks
July 2nd, 2012
9:08 am
Joe for Lopez if not then move on 2 next team, so that mean no for me because we all no Nets are holding on Lopez to get D 12.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KevinM
July 2nd, 2012
9:17 am
Whether we totally blow it up (I truly don’t believe that) as we have Teague and Al and Josh after moving Joe, our problems are strictly with the contracts of Joe and Marvin. We’re talking about 28,040,145 of our cap with 2 guys! That’s just bad economics and Danny is coming in here with 6 years of security to get it done right. I applaud him immediately for just the rumors to try and improve this team.
So to move Marvin, it will have to be amnesty and if Danny is moving the captains, then he’ll have room under the cap to absorb Marvin’s nimbers. I think this is where its going and Josh will then be the next to go because of being on the last year, and because he wants to be a SF. I’m with Danny on this one.
Anyone notice how long Danny took to show you how flawed he thought this model was going forward? If anyone thinks he and Sund are on the same page……Sund is as much a factor as Rich McKay is.
Astro Joe
July 2nd, 2012
9:19 am
Man, 5 scrubs (likely 7-13 on the roster hierarchy) for Joe. Talk about a complete salary dump. My only concern is taking back so many bad players, I wish it were only 3 and not 5. Tegaue and Farmar are very similar players, so we won’t have much diversity at the PG position. Morrow, JJ2 and Stevenson (ugh) will all stay at the 3-point line waiting for a pass and who is Jordan Williams? Oh, and Petro gets to sit at the opposite end of LD.
Boy, I hope there is another team that can get in the mix for Joe. 5 scrubs?
If the Lakers get D12, I hope that he can make a move to acquire either Bynum or Gasol.
KevinM
July 2nd, 2012
9:21 am
What happens if OKC makes a run at D12? WOW!
“Would OKC deal Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, Eric Maynor, draft pick and filler for D-Howard and a one-year shot to win?”
Would you give up Ibaka? No one could beat that deal.
Astro Joe
July 2nd, 2012
9:23 am
Oh and the misinformation being posted last night was staggering. The funniest (and dumbest) was the old Al for #2 post… a few days AFTER the draft. That was from an article by an ESPN writer who looked at various draft day related trade scenarios that HE came up with. He wasn’t reporting them as “sources say”, he was making ish up.
judy
July 2nd, 2012
9:26 am
I say keep Joe!!! He is the best player on the Hawks. He has really done alot for them. I can’t wait until next season begins. GO HAWKS!! THE TRUE FAN!!
Hoops
July 2nd, 2012
9:29 am
darrell,
The Hawks are not going to get Lopez. If the Nets do not get Howard, they need him as their center and if they do get Howard they will need Lopez as the center piece to make the deal with the Magic.
The Hawks should require the Nets include Farmar, Brooks, Williams, Petro, and the Nets first round pick in the trade.
The Hawks line up would be:
PG-Teague, Farmar
SG-Brooks, Jenkins
SF-Josh S, Marvin
PF-Horford, Williams, Scott
C-Zaza, Petro
* Now they have cap room to go get a starting SF if the Josh for Gasol trade goes through.
Glenn
July 2nd, 2012
9:31 am
The Hawks & Nets are done talking after this Dwight Howard announcement unless NJ & Orlando can’t get something done .
NCBravesFan
July 2nd, 2012
9:33 am
“Anyone notice how long Danny took to show you how flawed he thought this model was going forward? If anyone thinks he and Sund are on the same page……Sund is as much a factor as Rich McKay is.”
++++
Amen, Kevin. It’s all a little hard to believe really – I would not have believed a guy like Ferry would come here … and the ASG would step back in order to let him do his thing (that part remains to be seen, I suppose).
Astro Joe
July 2nd, 2012
9:43 am
So it looks like Ferry’s plan is to start the rebuilding next summer, and the moves this summer allow that to happen (all 5 NJ scrubs have expiring or unguaranteed contracts next summer). But we will surely be a lottery-bound team next year. Marvin will get the amnesty treatment shortly after Joe gets traded. The Hawks can only use amnesty on the 6 players who are still with the team from last fall when the CBA was signed. They won’t use it on the expiring deals of Josh and Zaza… Joe will be traded, Teague and Horford don’t make sense to amnesty, so Marvin is left. If they don’t use it on Marvin, they likely won’t need to use it. So we’re probably looking at Ferry signing someone like Rashard Lewis or Matt Barnes to a 1 year deal. Next summer (when Josh & Zaza come off the books), the Hawks will only have Horford’s $12 and Teague’s ~$3M, plus a little for Jenkins and Scott (if he sticks). Of course, they could choose to resign Josh and/or Zaza, but bottom line, a ton of cap space next summer. Plus, a likely lottery pick because I don’t think a core of Al, Josh & Teague with complementary scrubs is going to do anything more than lose badly in the first round. I’d rather have a lottery pick than watch them hopefully win 1 game in the playoffs. LD goes out in a fiery blaze of misery and we get to chat about signing CP3 or D12 or some other megastar next summer while watching wretched basketball. Said differently, we become the Nets/Knicks when they went into the tank hoping to sign an elite vet in the summer of 2010. That’s what we will be in the coming season. Time to subscribe to Netflix for entertaining TV.
MsDee
July 2nd, 2012
9:54 am
The unrestricted free agent point guard, Jonny Flynn, has received interest from the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Atlanta Hawks, a source tells CSNNW.com.
Mike
July 2nd, 2012
9:55 am
@Glenn
Wrong on that count, those talks is still going and its from Devon Williams not D12. Nets end game is D12 but they have to make Devon happy. Joe’s contract has to go really.
Glenn
July 2nd, 2012
9:59 am
@ Mike
There is no way the Nets can take on Dwight , Devon , & JJ’s contract . Devon WIlliams will want Howard ALOT more than JJ .
Glenn
July 2nd, 2012
10:04 am
Sorry Deron . You threw me off Mike : )
Hoops
July 2nd, 2012
10:04 am
Astro Joe,
That was a very entertaining senerio of “the decline of the Hawks” that you just wrote. I don’t think Ferry will take the Hawks that deep into puratory to straighten out the mess that the three previous GM’s have put us in.
Don’t you think the Josh/Marvin trade for Gasol will happen after the Joe to the Nets trade happens?
Me
July 2nd, 2012
10:09 am
With 38.7 million dollars in cap space I don’t think they are anywhere near running out. Hawks will take on Nets expiring contracts and do a sign and trade.
Mike
July 2nd, 2012
10:12 am
I am glad that I can help but I got a feeling this issue will be taken care of in the next couple of days
@Hoops,
That ship sailed a couple of days ago. I think that Josh will be shipped but its going to be later.
@MC, do you know how some of the Hawks players is feeling about this rumor? I will like to see how JJ feels about it.
Howard
July 2nd, 2012
10:14 am
Any trade of Joe Johnson for anything or nothing is a positive for the Hawks. Just the salary cap room and getting rid of ISO is a positive step. A player or two who can contribute is just extra. This is truly a situation of addition by subtraction. Shocking that owners who seemed so committed to Johnson as the “star” are giving Ferry the authority to move him. Sounds like Ferry finally put some basketball sense into owners.
Me
July 2nd, 2012
10:16 am
Joe Johnson only has 4 years 89 million left on his contract. Howard just having Back surgery and making it clear that he wants to be a Net, has pretty much guaranteed he will be accepting a paycut, and why not? He has pretty much done that by demanding to leave Orlando, a team that could pay him close to 30 million a year.
Me
July 2nd, 2012
10:23 am
I will be more than happy to hear a trade for Joe Johnson has been done…Any Trade!
SteveW
July 2nd, 2012
10:23 am
Lost in all this JJ to the Nets talk is the fact that Farmar has actually turned into an ok backup PG. He’s 1 good piece in the trade. Morrow had a terrible year last year. If he can get back to shooting 44+% from 3, he’s an ok piece also. Stevenson has gone straight down hill. Petro has always been downhill.
Jordan Williams – 6-10 260 – maybe some potential there. 2nd round pick last year.
I like the Nets giving us a pick also.
If we could somehow come out of this with some combination of the following 4 pieces, I’d do it: Humphries, Green, Farmar, Brooks, Morrow, 1st pick. Any 4 of those 6 pieces, to get out from under JJ’s contract, do it. Or any 3, with the 1st pick thrown in.
And I’m not a JJ hater. I remember what like was like with a front office trading Jason Terry and Pau Gasol, and the years of misery and terrible draft picks.
JJ has led this team to 5 straight playoff appearances, final 8 3 times, made the All Star team 6 times. I like JJ and am not a hater.
His contract just doesn’t match his abilities. Gargantuan.
O'brien
July 2nd, 2012
10:24 am
Someone keeps posting misinformation about Al’s contract. He signed a contract for 5 years $60. there is no signing bonus or $3 mil in incentives. Get your facts straight.
KevinM
July 2nd, 2012
10:29 am
Not sure if any mentioned it, but Jordan Williams could be a very good young guy for us next season. There’s little investment (similar to Mike Scott) and we let him come in and play in SL. He had some decent games last year on a bad team. He was getting about 20mpg, so he had a chance to develop.
So to me, the names look a bit better, and I would be content if Petro was replaced by Brooks….I’m buying then.
O'brien
July 2nd, 2012
10:37 am
Ra’mon,
For the record, I like hibbert and the path he is on. but he is coming off a career/contract year when he averaged career highs of 13 pts, 9 Rebs and 2 blocks. Al was more ready coming out of Florida, but did u know he is only 6 months older than hibbert?
But IMO, if $15 mil is fair for hibbert, then $12 mil is fair for al.
Astro Joe
July 2nd, 2012
10:38 am
Hoops, if the Lakers get Dwight, I’m not sure that they will make anymore changes to their frontcourt. Acquiring Gasol is a smart move if you want to trade production for production. But if Ferry is trading Joe for 5 guys named Moe, then it looks more like a rebuilding plan and not a reloading plan.
Me
July 2nd, 2012
10:39 am
They could include Barney Rubble and Dino Flintstone and I would buy it.
SteveW
July 2nd, 2012
10:42 am
What if this scenario happened – it’s actually quite plausible and possible:
We trade JJ for say – Brooks, Morrow. Farmar, Petro, And a 1st pick, or something close to that.
Dwight gets traded to Houston, because Orlando doesn’t care about Dwight’s “demands”.
And the Nets to make doubly sure that Dwight signs with them next summer offers us Lopez and Humphries for Smoove.
A team of D12, Smoove, Gerald Wallace, JJ, and DeRon next season would be incredible for the Nets.
And the Hawks would be ok also, at least with cap space.
STRETCH
July 2nd, 2012
10:45 am
SteveW,
So basically, we get the Nets team????