Sothron

The Thrashers (of which I am a passionate fan as well) already had their payroll set before the Belkin situation broke out. Keeping Ilya and bringing in Hossa were absolute needs to keep the franchise viable. Unlike the Hawks where spending to the cap is not a necessity and with the Belkin situation simply not going to happen until it is resolved.

Sadly, yes they do deserve ridicule. The ownership situation is something straight out of an Arlis episode.

I blame mostly Belkin and some of it goes on the AS. They simply got legally outfoxed by Belkin and now both the Hawks and Thrashers are suffering as a result.

The AS appealed the decision that gave Belkin that option. I do not know when the next court date is set for. But the media and people I talked with have all agreed it could potentially take two to three years to get it completely sorted out.

The only two words I heard were "financial difficulties" but the context in which it was said made me think they really meant "financial irregularities" in regards to Miller handling Al's money.

Princess might be able to clarify further.

I posted it in another thread but I've heard from reliable sources (you can guess who one of them is heh) that the AS ownership had told BK to spend up to the cap before the Belkin situation. Now those funds are frozen because they (AS) is not going to spend more money on the Hawks than they have to with a real risk of losing everything to Satan er Belkin.

So yes, BK is handcuffed here. Other teams know the real reason the team won't take back salary and are putting BK over a barrel over it. Or attempting to do so. You have an ownership that only wants to meet the NBA minimum payroll until the Belkin situation is finally done (which can take another two to three years I might add) and they know where they stand.

The Hawks are literally screwed from top down. Think how many times Sekou Smith inserts a comment about the ownership situation affecting our team and this Harrington deal. He knows. He's just not going to report it as it really stands. The Atlanta Spirit publically will say they have told BK to spend to the cap limit which WAS true but is not any longer. Unless they change their minds in regards to Belkin this team won't be spending much money.

I had heard Al fired Andy Miller over financial issues not because of this deal not going through.

If and buts are candy and nuts...

Yet another day with no resolution on Harrington. Another wonderful day to be a Hawks fan.

Why would the Hawks want to get a low Spurs pick and pay a year of salary for scrubs?

I'd love to have Pryz on this team since what we need most he provides two of the three: rebounding and interior defense. The only thing he doesn't give is a low post option but his rebounding and defense are good enough to make up for that area. Too bad BK burned bridges with Joel enough to keep that from happening.

When I talked to Jason I asked him about Pryz and he confirmed what I had already known: there was no chance in hell Pryz was coming back to Atlanta after the way BK treated him. BK made the decision to go with Collier over Pyrz.

The trade will NOT give the exception to the Hawks. You can't trade an exception. The Pacers are going to USE their exception in order to absorb Harrington's contract and not have to send back salary to Atlanta.

I keep hearing rumors that we are at least considering Brenson Buckner or Grady Jackson to fill in the big NT need we have. Our first preseason game had our interior DL getting nailed and moved around badly by the Pats and letting their guards or FB get clean blocks on our LBs. We can't have that and expect to win games.

I'll post my pics of Shellhead tonight when I get home from work.

I have it on good authority that the funds earmarked for salary this year are off the table due to the legal battle with Belkin. The AS is not going to pay up to the cap or over it just to potentially lose the team.

I'd love to see Kaman here in Atlanta. If Dwight really wants to be in Atlanta again in two years he can make the Magic trade him. But we'll see.

I don't want to sound like a fatalist here but...did anyone here actually think BK was going to make a good trade? Anyone? Has he made one trade where we got back better value than what we gave up?

He was a better wrestler than player. And he was beyond horrible as a wrestler.

I have a feeling if the team wins more than 30 games he'll sadly be given another season at least.

They are. We are not getting a trade exception back from this. It is being used by Indiana to make the trade work.

I threw up a little in my mouth at the idea of bringing Kenyon Martin on the Hawks. With his bum knee, injury history and horrible attitude what exactly would he bring to the table? His appetite for self-destruction?

The only big man that's a FA next year that I want and I believe is very attainable is Chris Kaman. I don't think the Clippers would go over 10 million a year to resign him and we would offer him enough to get him to sign an offer sheet.

We don't need another PF. We need a true center which Gooden is not.

I would trade him for a run stuffing DT.

As with all things related to Atlanta Hawks, I have long prepared myself to be bitterly disappointed at what we get in return for Harrington. Disappointment and being a Hawks fan are par for course.