Ferry: “We felt with the team that we had, we were probably going to maintain the status quo and not be able to reach a championship level."

[Guest]

John Hollingers Take (from chat):

Taylor (Atlanta)

Any chance Atlanta is still alive in the DH talks? They seem to be stocking up on hometown guys (Smoove, Lou Williams, and Anthony Morrow). You would think Howard would agree to stay long term. Is the hiccup that the Magic would rather have picks than Horford/Teague?

John Hollinger

(12:23 PM)

I suspect Ferry's thinking is along these lines: Don't overbid now because the Hawks have the best chance of anybody to sign Howard if and when he hits free agency. So even if he goes to Houston, Hawks feel like they're in the game.