This time the actual talent is coming to the eastern conference.
The Kings have agreed in principle to trade Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks for guards Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue and forwards Lorenzen Wright and Sheldon Williams.
Another trade where no real talent goes back to the team giving up a good player.
Johnson, Lue, and Wright are all expiring contracts and Shelden Williams hasn't lived up to be much of anything.
All four that are going to the Kings have expiring contracts. It's just a salary dump.
-LTlabnerIf you can't build a winning team with that core a fire-sale isn't the solution. Selling the franchise, moving them to Nashville and converting GABP into a used car lot is.
Well, Atlanta's #1 pick goes to the Suns unconditionally, so there's no time like the present for the Hawks. Kudos to Hawks GM Billy Knight for pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. The young Hawks may not only make the playoffs, they may now actually advance.
Not sure about advancing. They will be facing Boston, Detroit, Orlando or Cleveland if they get in. I wouldn't look for them to go very far.
That said I like the trade. The Hawks have needed a PG for awhile. Bibby, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith form a nice threesome.
Nice trade for the Hawks, could make some noise in the east now.
They sure have an interesting team now.... good, but not championship material IMO (especially this year)
I'd include Horford in that list, he's done great so far.Originally Posted by MaineRed
Me too. I was just talking about the backcourt/wing. Horford might be the biggest reason you make this deal. With his play, along with Marvin Williams it made Shelden Williams quite expendable.
I think this was a great trade for Atlanta. Bibby is not what he used to be and won't answer all their questions but the Hawks for once in their history were actually dealing from a position of strength. They didn't have to sell the farm to bring in a name guy, they could actually wait and make a good deal and that is what they did.
If there is a critism of the Hawks it is for drafting Shelden Williams. It was a poor move. Brandon Roy was the next guy taken. But of course they "needed" a big guy and not a guy like Roy. Amazing how GMs and teams will pretend all guys are equal at draft time and act like the only way to pick a guy is by what position he plays. Morons. GM after GM continues to make this same mistake. Not sure why Atlanta's choice would surprise me. They picked Marvin Williams over Chris Paul.
If you suck, don't draft by need, you only have one need, getting better and you don't get better by passing on superstars because they play the same position as the above average guy you have.
This also buys time for Acie law to develop. Solomon Jones is a better option as a backup C/PF than L.Wright or, at this stage of his career, Sheldon Williams from an interior defensive standpoint. On that end, as noted, it all starts with Horford, who was a far better pick for Atlanta than Yi, whom many Hawk's fans prefered at draft time.
Bibby does have a pretty hefty contract though.
Not really. It expires after next season if the info I am looking at is correct. There is no such thing as a hefty one year contract in the NBA because they can so easily be moved. If Bibby isn't working out next season they can trade him to the Knicks.
Bibby immediately becomes the best PG the Hawks have suited up since Mookie Blalock.
The thing is, Billy Knight passed on the chance to stick Chris Paul in the backcourt with Joe Johnson.
He passed on Deron Williams, too.
And this past spring, he passed on Mike Conley Jr.
Knight finally got it right that his team desperately needed a PG.
But his epiphany is about 2-3 years too late, IMO.
As a Hawks fan I'm pretty darn happy. They plugged a hole and gave up nothing to do it. I'm under no illusions that the Hawks will now rocket to the top of the east, but with the playoff bar set so low this should put them in pretty good shape to get in.
And therein lies the problem.
They'll be just good enough to get into the playoffs...and get thumped by one of the EC powers in round 1.
That translates into drafting just outside the range when impact players are available.
(Assuming, of course, that you actually have draft picks to begin with...)
Going in for Joe Johnson only made sense if there was a good PG to pair with him in the backcourt.
It only took Billy Knight 3 years to figure it out and do something about it.
They don't have a first round pick this year, so if you're going to stick yourself into the middle region instead of the lottery you may as well do it this year.
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