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Johnnybravo4

By Johnnybravo4
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exodus Newbie

exodus

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I know that I am a glutton for punishment

You won't be disappointed.

Pacers show brains in Harrington dealBy Chad Ford

ESPN Insider

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It's not shocking to hear the words "great trade" when the team attached to the other end of the deal is the Atlanta Hawks.

The Pistons heard it when they stole Rasheed Wallace from the Hawks at the trade deadline in 2004 -- a move that gave them the NBA title. The Suns heard it (albeit belatedly) when they got two first-round draft picks and Boris Diaw for Joe Johnson last summer.

Al Harrington will be back in blue and gold this season.

But in the case of the recently consummated Al Harrington trade, I'm letting Hawks GM Billy Knight off the hook. It wasn't Knight's incompetence that made this a great deal for the Pacers. It was the brilliant maneuvering of the Pacers' front office that made this deal, in my book, the best move of the summer.

While the Bulls and Hornets made splashier signings in July with the acquisitions of Ben Wallace and Peja Stojakovic, respectively, those transactions had their share of thorns.

For the Pacers, this one came up all aces. Here's why:

1. Harrington pushes the Pacers to the next level.

There were a lot of interesting signings and trades this summer, but how many of them clearly pushed a team into a different level of playoff contention?

Wallace's addition to Chicago may have that effect. However, the Bulls still have enough question marks that it's unclear exactly how big a push they'll get. To make Wallace's contract worth the expenditure, the Bulls will have to reach the Eastern Conference finals. He might get them there (and beyond), but I'm not sold.

Stojakovic will add a few W's to the Hornets' win column, but how many? The best-case scenario is that they are a seventh or eighth seed in the West (not sure that's worth $62 million).

But Harrington puts the Pacers back in contention in the East, in part because the Pacers didn't have to give up much to get him. You can argue that they ended up giving up Stojakovic (or, by extension, Ron Artest) to acquire the trade exception that landed Harrington, but given Artest's bad behavior and Stojakovic's injury history, I'd take Harrington (and his cheaper deal) any day.

What makes Harrington work in Indiana is twofold. One is his familiarity with the team. He'll be able to step right in and fit in with his teammates and head coach Rick Carlisle's schemes. Two, his versatility gives the Pacers a number of options on the front line. They can play Jermaine O'Neal at the five, Harrington at the four and a combo of Danny Granger and Marquis Daniels at the three. Or they can play Jeff Foster in the middle, move O'Neal to the four and put Harrington at the three depending on matchups.

He also gives the Pacers something else they desperately need, a reliable second scoring option that doesn't need the spotlight. Harrington will be cast perfectly in a supporting role in Indiana alongside O'Neal.

When you factor in the Pacers' other additions this summer -- Daniels, Darrell Armstrong, Maceo Baston, Shawne Williams and James White -- the Pacers are more athletic, more versatile and deeper than they've been the past few years.

In my mind, the Pacers not only made the best move of the summer, they had the best summer, overall, of any team in the NBA.

2. They didn't overpay.

The Pacers got a relative steal, nailing down Harrington on a four-year, $35 million deal. By the market's ridiculous standards, that's a huge bargain.

Coming into the offseason Harrington was ranked as the third- or fourth-best free agent available. Wallace got $60 million over four years. Stojakovic got $62 million over five. Nene, coming off a year on the DL, got $60 million over six years. Jason Terry walked away with a six-year, $50-million deal. Even guys such as Mike James, Nazr Mohammed and Vladimir Radmanovic pulled down $30 million.

To get Harrington at roughly $25 million less than everyone thought he'd get goes down as the coup of the summer. Given owners' increasing unwillingness to pay the luxury tax, cap flexibility is king. Landing a talent such as Harrington on the cheap (as opposed to overpaying like almost every other team in the league did with free agents this summer) is a rarity these days.

As it stands, even after signing Harrington, the Pacers are still millions under the luxury tax threshold and will be for the next three years. After that, they'll get significant cap flexibility again. A three-year run -- that's what every team dreams of -- and the Pacers could have it without making a significant signing to their team.

3. They outsmarted the competition.

Every step along the way, the Pacers' front office of Larry Bird, Donnie Walsh and David Morway was a little smarter than everyone else it was negotiating against.

The Pacers started this summer by wisely declining to go overboard to re-sign Stojakovic. They knew that criticism would be harsh. "They lost Ron Artest for nothing!" was the cry throughout much of the national and local media.

But the Pacers had a plan. They just didn't clue us in until the deal finally happened.

Stojakovic was 29-years old. The Hornets were willing to pay him for five years to the tune of $62 million. That would've been a millstone around the Pacers' neck that they would've never recovered from.

So, the team went back to the Hornets and asked for a sign-and-trade to get a whopping $7.5 million exception. To my knowledge it's the largest trade exception in the history of the NBA. The cost to the Pacers? Roughly 200 grand.

The result? The Pacers, who were way over the cap, suddenly had the equivalent of $7.5 million in cap room. The Bulls and Hornets, two teams that had significant room, had already spent theirs. The Bobcats and Hawks, the other two teams that had lots of cap space, weren't going to spend theirs.

That left the Pacers as the only team in the league that could facilitate one more big signing. By then, they already knew who their target would be -- Harrington.

Atlanta didn't want to pay him and Harrington was loyal to Indiana after it had granted his trade demand two summers ago. Harrington learned that being the "go-to guy" on a bad team was overrated and wanted to win again. His relationship with everyone in Indiana was strong, in part, because the Pacers treated him so well the first time.

It was a deal that was going to happen, one way or the other. We wrung our hands over the on-again, off-again deal for the past month but the truth was always the same. As long as the Hawks were refusing to take back players in a trade and Harrington wanted more than a mid-level exception, there was only one team in the league that could make a deal happen -- the Pacers.

While the Hawks demanded an extra $3 million in cash, the Pacers stuck to their guns. When Harrington demanded a six-year, $57-million deal, the Pacers held firm at four years, $35 million.

All along they knew something that no one else in the league seemed to understand -- no one was going to come close to giving the Hawks or Harrington a better deal.

This type of smart management and negotiation may be commonplace in the business world, but in the NBA it's rare to find a front office that understands the intricacies of the system and the market the way Walsh, Bird and Morway did.

So when I see the Pacers' front office called "class clowns" in the Indianapolis Star I have to vehemently disagree. It's the exact opposite. They were the proverbial "smartest guys" in the room.

For a team everyone was writing off at the start of the summer, the Pacers are now in the same class as the Pistons, Bulls and Nets -- scratching at the door of the Heat for the Eastern Conference title.

There are still questions, certainly. But there are a lot fewer than there were six weeks ago.

If the old Jermaine O'Neal shows up ... if Jamaal Tinsley can stay healthy ... if Rick Carlisle will submerge his worst instincts and let this very athletic team run ... the Pacers have as good a shot as any team to play in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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gsuteke Rookie

gsuteke

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1. We send Al to a hamstrung rival to plug the hole in their sinking boat.

2. In return we get a pick that will not help us win basketball games for the next 2 to 3 years.

3. We get no players in return (notice I said "players" not one guy with a big contract) to help the Hawks get over that hump and into the playoffs.

4. We receive no leverage in the form of an expiring player that we can use in a S&T nexxt offseason.

5. The biggest insult to us fans is the Edwards throwin to this deal. It screams let's get out of this thing as cheaply as possible!

Lascar you may not like the messenger but in this case the message itself is crystal clear. The Hawks really dropped the ball on this Harrington trade. Not only are they continuing to erode the fan base with moves like these they are also giving the Chad Ford's of the world more ammunition to mock them, and rightfully so. Whatever negativity is heaped their way as a result of this trade is justly deserved!

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Johnnybravo4 Newbie

Johnnybravo4

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I don't understand how losing Peja and replacing them with Harrington makes them a title contender. They still lack what they have lacked for about 10 years now. A good center. In fact I like our center situation better than theirs. In essence, they made a lateral move, and if they think that they can start a lineup of Granger, Al and O'neal in the front court they are nuts.

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Lascar78 Newbie

Lascar78

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Lascar you may not like the messenger but in this case the message itself is crystal clear. The Hawks really dropped the ball on this Harrington trade

Oh really? Let's see what Ford says:

Quote:

no one was going to come close to giving the Hawks or Harrington a better deal.

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gsuteke Rookie

gsuteke

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Quote:

Lascar you may not like the messenger but in this case the message itself is crystal clear. The Hawks really dropped the ball on this Harrington trade

Oh really? Let's see what Ford says:

Quote:

no one was going to come close to giving the Hawks or Harrington a better deal.

www.790thezone.com

once again you are in the minority of the minority Lascar. click it and listen.

i'll calm down in 24 hours. i just need to get through my grieving period.
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gsuteke Rookie

gsuteke

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Quote:

Quote:

Lascar you may not like the messenger but in this case the message itself is crystal clear. The Hawks really dropped the ball on this Harrington trade

Oh really? Let's see what Ford says:

Quote:

no one was going to come close to giving the Hawks or Harrington a better deal.

www.790thezone.com

once again you are in the minority of the minority Lascar. click it and listen.

i'll calm down in 24 hours. i just need to get through my grieving period.

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Sothron Grand Master

Sothron

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I love how Ford shows his bias: he rips the Hawks at the beginning and then completely ignores the effect of the trade for the Hawks the entire rest of the article. He didn't even mention what Indiana gave up for Harrington.

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Lascar78 Newbie

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790 has horrible hawks coverage. Those people don't know what's going on. And like I said earlier, people will hate the deal now, like it later on. So I would expect more casual fans like on 790 and the AJC blog to freak out. They only look at trades as talent exchanges, if the talent going out is less than the talent coming in, it must be a horrible trade.

Also why are you quoting me if you're not going to respond, and why are you posting twice?

You posted a bunch of stuff that you thought chad ford would say because he is the media's #1 hawk hater, but even he said it wasn't our fault, this was the best deal available. Too bad for you, huh?

But hey it's easier to post 790's URL than to adress the point.

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gsuteke Rookie

gsuteke

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790 has horrible hawks coverage. Those people don't know what's going on. And like I said earlier, people will hate the deal now, like it later on. So I would expect more casual fans like on 790 and the AJC blog to freak out. They only look at trades as talent exchanges, if the talent going out is less than the talent coming in, it must be a horrible trade.

Also why are you quoting me if you're not going to respond, and why are you posting twice?

You posted a bunch of stuff that you thought chad ford would say because he is the media's #1 hawk hater, but even he said it wasn't our fault, this was the best deal available. Too bad for you, huh?

But hey it's easier to post 790's URL than to adress the point.

oh dear. here we go again frown.gif

1. i did respond. i told you that you were and still are in the minority of the minority on this deal. the first minority would be you are a Hawks fan that is for this deal. the 2nd minority is that you are a Hawks fan to begin with. i even gave you some real time feedback through a link. your response is you don't like those people's opinions. that's a big boy response.

2. maybe i hit the wrong button or something.

3. and to quote you again

" I would expect more casual fans like on 790 and the AJC blog to freak out. They only look at trades as talent exchanges, if the talent going out is less than the talent coming in, it must be a horrible trade. "

back to my point on the owners not showing any business sense in this Harrington trade. empty seats have powerful voices. You are already a season ticket holder Lascar, and while you are important to the Hawks the people that are going to get them out of the red and into the black are the people you scoff at in the above quote.

Screw your head on straight and think about it outside of your own box Lascar. these guys were just treading water after the Belkin and Shellhead debacles and then they go and drop a big fat egg like this one. whatever excitement they generated through the Speedy signing and Joe Johnson World Championships run they've squandered in this silly trade.

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exodus Newbie

exodus

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As long as the Hawks were refusing to take back players in a trade
and Harrington wanted more than a mid-level exception, there was only one team in the league that could make a deal happen -- the Pacers.

While the Hawks demanded an extra $3 million in cash, the Pacers stuck to their guns. When Harrington demanded a six-year, $57-million deal, the Pacers held firm at four years, $35 million.

All along they knew something that no one else in the league seemed to understand --
no one was going to come close to giving the Hawks or Harrington a better deal
.

Of course no team could beat the Indy deal if the Hawks couldn't take back any players.

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Diesel Grand Master

Diesel

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In essence, they made a lateral move, and if they think that they can start a lineup of Granger, Al and O'neal in the front court they are nuts.

That's exactly what they will do.

And it probably will win.

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Packfill Rising Star

Packfill

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O'neal is less of a center than Zaza is. Harrington can't guard anyone. And Granger should be on the bench.

I would take O'Neal at center any day of the week over Zaza, they are the same size. In the event they face a Shaq they have Foster and Harrison available. Harrington's defense is not great but Carlisle will get what he can out of him. Granger is talented, so not sure why he does not deserve a shot. Even if he is not ready to start they have Marquis Daniels available, or they can move Al to small forward.

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CBAreject Newbie

CBAreject

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Peja is just a better player. When healthy (which he is now) he is the nearly the most efficient shooter in the league. Harrington is a mediocre player that scored a lot for a team full of 19-yr-olds. The Pacers probably don't even think they're better with Al. They might be glad they could get him to salvage the Peja snafu, but they don't think they're better. Chad Ford would've sucked off anybody who made a trade with the Hawks. That's all there is to it.

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