[外電] Why ASG wants J.J. back (even for the max)
Atlanta Hawks: Why ASG wants J.J. back (even for the max)
http://tinyurl.com/2dsachq
by Michael Cunningham
Talked to a person with insight into ASG’s rationale for offering J.J. a max
contract. Basically, the plan is for the Hawks to re-sign J.J. and then add
the necessary pieces to make them a true contender in the Eastern Conference.
Letting Joe leave would mean the Hawks would be worse in the short term, and
the Hawks aren’t prepared to take that step back (the sign-and-trade options
aren’t so appealing as to assure the team would maintain or improve). Once
they made that philosophical decision, they took a look at the market for
J.J. It quickly became clear that a few teams with cap space were ready to
offer him the non-Bird max, so the Hawks made an aggressive play to re-sign
him and hope that pays off with a commitment from J.J. soon.
Atlanta’s basketball people recognize that re-signing J.J. alone isn’t
enough to improve the team (because, well, it’s basically the same team) and
ASG is not opposed to exceeding the luxury-tax threshold to sign the right
player. That’s a good thing since they don’t have much choice. If J.J.
re-signs, the Hawks would have about $68 million in committed salaries when
including Chill’s $4.8 million qualifying offer and Jordan Crawford’s
rookie-scale salary. The NBA projects the tax threshold will be about $68
million, so the Hawks would be bumping up against it with only 10 11 players
under contract.
That leaves a minimum of three two open roster spots. If Chills signs an
offer sheet (Washington is interested) and the Hawks don’t match it (they
haven’t ruled out matching or working out a sign-and-trade) then the
committed salaries would be roughly $63 million with four three open roster
spots. The Hawks want a bona fide center and ASG is open to using the
mid-level exception to sign one. They also will explore trade opportunities,
though there haven’t been any serious discussions about potential moves
because Rick Sund is focused on J.J. right now.
Here is where the draft ties into ASG’s thinking. The Hawks traded down with
the belief that Jordan Crawford (he needs a nickname, right?) would still be
there at No. 27. They liked Kentucky’s Daniel Orton and would have taken him
with the No. 31 pick but he went 29th to the Magic and they didn’t like any
of the other centers available. So they sold the No. 31 pick for close to $3
million, and that money could help offset their potential luxury tax bill and
also the hit they would take for missing out on the tax escrow rebate.
ASG rejects the view expressed by David Aldridge and others that a potential
sell of the team influenced the max offer to J.J. Michael Gearon Jr. has
insisted that he is not interested in selling his share. It’s expected that
Steve Belkin eventually, finally, mercifully will be bought out and another
investor will be sought. The Hawks are said to be one of the few teams with
no debt on their franchise.
So a future sell of the team is not what’s driving the decision to max out
J.J., according to the person privy to ASG’s plans. It’s about the belief
that re-signing J.J., adding more pieces and improving their tactics and
approach under L.D. will allow the Hawks to finally take the next step. As
far as I know, all the speculation about using J.J. in a sign-and-trade is
off base, perhaps a way for skeptical observers to rationalize what they see
as a bad contract offer from the Hawks. It’s always possible, I guess, but I
haven’t heard anything that leads me to believe they want to send J.J. along
(a sign-and-trade obviously would require his permission) and everything to
suggest they really want him back.
I understand why many of my blog people (and it seems pretty much everyone on
the Interwebs) believe this was a bad move. As I said before, Hoopinion,
Peachtree Hoops and HawksStr8Talk all offered reasonable, clear-headed
explanations as to why they feel the Hawks should move on without J.J. if his
price is too high. I’m just trying to offer you as much insight as possible
into why ASG did made the decision to offer the max.
If J.J. re-signs and the plan doesn’t work, with J.J.’s contract becoming a
burden and their other moves also falling flat, then the Hawks will be judged
harshly.
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