YouTube clip of the day
June 28, 2007 at 10:00 am by Scott Freeman in SportsThe NBA draft is tonight, and the latest from ESPN.com’s Andy Katz is that the Hawks could roll the dice on a trade. Or two:
The proposed deal between Seattle and Atlanta, with the Sonics sending Luke Ridnour to the Hawks for the No. 11 pick (which would have likely been used for Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey), is dormant but may not be totally dead. Multiple sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks weren’t interested in the deal. The Sonics were waiting for the Hawks to show their interest Wednesday but to no avail. But if the Hawks can’t move their two lottery picks (Nos. 3 and 11) for Amare Stoudemire with Phoenix, who in turn would get Kevin Garnett with the Timberwolves receiving the picks, then the Ridnour trade could resurface.
However it shakes out, the Hawks have the chance to go a long way toward pulling this team together … or setting back the franchise another five years.
Hours before the draft, here are YouTube clips on the ones that could have been: Greg Oden and Keith Durant.
June 28th, 2007 at 10:51 am
My favorite part of today’s ESPN.com story about stupid Belkin holding up the Stoudemire deal…a deal that I would consider losing a finger for.
The latest drama in the KG saga shows some of the perils of dealing with the Hawks — arguably the most dysfunctional franchise in the league.
The Hawks ownership group, Atlanta Spirit LLC, is embroiled in a nasty lawsuit with former partner Steve Belkin. Belkin won a lawsuit against Atlanta Spirit LLC last summer and a judge ruled that he could buy out the owners of Atlanta Spirit and gain full ownership of the team. Atlanta Spirit is currently appealing the ruling.
In the meantime, Belkin holds some authority over the team. He can veto any trade or free agent signing that takes the team above the NBA salary cap. Several sources suggested that it was Belkin who vetoed the trade.
This fiasco isn’t the only situation the Hawks are dealing with. Sources said that Knight is in a dispute with some of the Hawks owners over who to take at No. 3. Knight prefers Florida’s Al Horford. Some in the Hawks ownership, including influential owner Michael Gearon Jr., want to draft Yi Jianlian out of China.