[外電] Harrington may be too expensive
Harrington may be too expensive
By SEKOU SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/23/06
Everyone's saying the right things in April.
Hawks co-captain Al Harrington wants to come back to the place
and the team he's called home the past two seasons. Hawks general
manager Billy Knight wants him back.
But the mutual admiration that colors April fades in July, when a
free agent like Harrington becomes the hunted for teams desperate
for that one player they feel can put them over the top.
So unless the Hawks are willing to show Harrington the money —
we're talking about a deal in the five-year, $50 million range,
for starters — the Hawks' most seasoned player might be calling
Chicago, New York or Los Angeles home next season.
"Right now, I really don't even know what to say about it," said
Harrington, whose summer recruiting visits won't start for months
but will no doubt include the aforementioned cities. "You realize
the gravity of your situation once the season ends. It's one
thing to talk about it. But to be on the brink of what could be
your biggest summer ... it all hits home then.
"And now, it's really in the hands of my agent [New York-based
Andy Miller] and the Hawks, to see how the details get worked
out."
Knight said the Hawks' feelings about Harrington haven't changed
a bit since they traded for him two summers ago, when he was
coming off a breakout season in Indiana.
"We like Al and we'd like to keep him," Knight said. "We're very
happy with him and what he's brought not only to our team but to
our franchise. He's been the consummate pro. Al's been great for
the two years he's been here and we'd like it to continue in the
future."
GO OR STAY
Whether Harrington is re-signed, signed and traded or leaves
without the Hawks receiving compensation (the least likely
scenario), the ramifications for the immediate future of the
franchise are immense. All we can do now is wait patiently until
July, when the free agent circus begins.
PROS of KEEPING HARRINGTON
Only nine of the NBA's 30 teams can claim two players among the
league's top 30 scorers. The Hawks, with Joe Johnson (20.2 points
a game) and Harrington (18.6), are one of them. Having two proven
scorers of that ilk could be crucial for a team in search of a
playoff bid next season. The Hawks swapped one 18-point scorer
for another when they traded Stephen Jackson to the Pacers for
Harrington. Trying to pull that off again could prove difficult.
Teams from Boston to Seattle are screaming for veteran leadership.
Not the 32-year-old kind, but those six-, seven- and eight-year
veterans in 25- and 26-year-old packages, a la Harrington, who
jumped straight from high school to the NBA. If the Hawks'
co-captain truly is one of the elite free agents on the market —
and only Ben Wallace ranks consistently as high among most pundits
— why would the Hawks let him leave?
Finally, there's Boris Diaw's Law. In short, there needs to be a
fear of giving someone up that you'll wind up kicking yourself
over later. Harrington could be next in a long line of ex-Hawks
whose true value isn't realized until they're gone (think as far
back Dominique Wilkins and Steve Smith and as recently as Nazr
Mohammed).
CONS OF KEEPING HARRINGTON
If Harrington returns, the obvious crunch on playing time and
production will impact young forwards Marvin Williams, Josh Smith
and Josh Childress. Surely, there's ample room for two of these
guys. But four? A nucleus with so many similarly sized players
should produce a logjam at some point, sort of like the one in
Indiana ran into, when Harrington fled so he could prove himself
elsewhere. If he stays, maybe someone else goes.
While coaches gush about veteran leadership, NBA executives
cringe at the price tags. The Hawks have avoided risky,
high-priced free-agent options in the past (see: Kenyon Martin,
Erick Dampier, Carlos Boozer, Eddy Curry) in favor of more
cost-friendly young options (Zaza Pachulia). Minus concrete
evidence that one path leads to immediate success over the other,
perhaps the risk is too great with in-house talents like Smith
and Childress on the free-agent horizon.
The exceptions to Diaw's law: Jackson and Antoine Walker, two the
team couldn't show the door quickly enough. Truth is, there are
always calculated risks involved in player transactions. Too much
fear when it comes to making moves can hurt a franchise as much
as moves that turn out bad — how many different point guards
could have helped the Hawks this season had a trade deadline deal
involving Harrington been done in February? At this stage of the
game, the Hawks have to be willing to gamble a little bit.
資料來源
http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0423hawks.html
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