Al Harrington to Indiana deal likely to be concluded TODAY

Harrington deal up to Pacers

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/hawks/stories/0814harrington.html

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/14/06

The Hawks could finally complete their long-anticipated sign-and-trade for Al Harrington Monday if the Indiana Pacers agree to the deal, a person familiar with the situation said Sunday.

The Hawks have agreed to sign Harrington to a six-year, $57 million deal and then send him and third-year center John Edwards to the Pacers for a future first-round draft pick, the person said.

Gone from the deal is the $3 million in cash the Hawks were seeking in addition to the draft pick before Harrington fired his agent.

Hawks general manager Billy Knight could not be reached for comment.

The Pacers have a $7.5 million trade exception they acquired last month in a sign-and-trade deal with New Orleans for Peja Stojakovic that allows them to complete the deal. The Hawks don't want to take back lengthy contracts that would put a stranglehold on the salary cap flexibility they've built up the past three years.

If the Pacers decline to complete the deal Monday, Harrington's list of options will grow at the same time Arn Tellem officially becomes his recognized agent. League rules stipulate a 15-day period between the time a player fires one agent and hires another.

As many as six other teams are waiting in the wings if the Hawks and Pacers can't complete the deal. The options for the Hawks and Harrington would multiply in that scenario, though the Hawks would have to agree to take players in return in order for any sign-and-trade deal not involving the Pacers. Those options include Harrington taking something other than a five- or six-year contract, perhaps something as short as three years, in order to make a deal work.

Another option that has remained a possibility since the free-agent negotiating period began July 1 is a multiple-team deal where Harrington gets the lucrative, long-term contract he desires and the Hawks maintain their salary flexibility by not taking on an unwanted contract. But that option requires at least one more team, and maybe more, to become reality.

The completion of the Harrington deal will allow the Hawks to finally sign Lorenzen Wright to the two-year, $6 million deal the former Hawks player and free agent center has agreed to sign.


-----------


Rumors from within the Pacers say that Al is in Indianapolis for a physical exam THIS MORNING and that the Pacers have agreed to the trade as long as there are no surprises in the physical.

The salary (6 years, 57 mil) may be a bit steep, but I'd be interested in seeing a list of potentially available starting forwards not on their rookie contracts making much less and producing >15ppg, >7 rpg, especially at age 26.

 

If you were a boss writing a check, which is better value:

a) writing a check for 6.4 million to Juwan Howard for next year, or
b) giving 7.6 million to Al Harrington?

It's not a hard choice, Howard being washed up crap.

The main drawback is that Al is a PF most of all, so this pushes Jermaine O'Neal to C with Danny Granger at SF. Granger is a great rebounder for a SF, so that could help with Al's weakness.

I've gone through the salaries of starting NBA power forwards. They are not cheap unless they are on their rookie contracts. A crude ranking and their salaries (except for the top 8, where they are so much better than Al that salary isn't important):

The best:
#1 Tim Duncan
#2 Kevin Garnett
#3 Dirk Nowitzki
#4 Elton Brand
#5 Jermaine O'Neal
#6 Chris Bosh
#7 Rasheed Wallace
#8 Pau Gasol

The rest:

#9 Antawn Jamison- 15.1 mil
#10 Boris Diaw- (on rookie deal)
#11 Chris Webber- 20.7 mil
#12 Emeka Okafor- (on rookie deal)
#13 Zach Randolph- 12 mil
#14 Mehmet Okur- 8.25 mil
#15 Kenyon Martin- 11.8 mil
#16 David West- (on rookie deal)
#17 Charlie Villanueva (on rookie deal)
#18 Carlos Boozer- 11.6 mil
#19 Shareef Abdur-Rahim -5.4 mil
#20 Troy Murphy- 8.3 mil
#21 Drew Gooden- 6 million?


personally I'f put Al somewhere between #16 and #21 on that list, and so only Abdur-Rahim and maybe Drew Gooden are better bangs for your buck.

The risk is that by years 5 and 6, will he will be worth 11-12 mil. Based upon the above numbers, if he is a top 15 PF then I'd have to say yes.

Quality bigs don't come cheap. He will never make as much, though, in any one year as Croshere and Pollard made together last year.

 

The guard spots are indeed a wreck and I can only assume that the market for Tinsley and Jackson was nonexistent. They would have liked to move both of them.

While it is true that nobody on the court except Jackson and backup PG Sarunas J. can hit a 3, everybody inluding the bigs can hit a J up to 18 feet. That's a big change vs. leaving Foster unguarded for anything but layups.

I think that the Johnson giveaway in Dallas's favor was linked to the Marquis Daniels giveway in the Pacers favor. Technical details just made the two trades occur separately. Also, having 2 separate trades gave the Pacers a smallish trade exception, which allows them to make Atlanta happy by using it to take the contract of worthless white stiff Edwards of Atlanta's hands in the process of closing the Harrington deal. This was apparently one of Atlanta's demands all along.

I can see the Pacers facing a lot of zones. But Jermaine, Al, and Danny Granger are all good off the dribble and good at slashing, at least for their positions (C, PF, SF). Somebosy has to get them the ball. Larry Bird is convinced Tinsley can be healthy and Sarunas will be a legit backup. At least this year if Jackson whines and moans about refs and gets in a down streak, there is Marquis Daniels to take over at SG instead of 6'2" Fred Jones.

 

My point is that I defy you to name an NBA forward making less than 7.6 million next year (Al's rumored salary) who is better than Al Harrington and who is not on a rookie contract.

If this is a crazy awful contract, then somebody must know of a veteran 18/8 type guy making less, right?

I think that one such player & contract may exist-- Abdur-Rahim. I think Gooden is less skilled than Al (though a better rebounder) and Wilcox is less proven. I threw Juwan's name out there as an example of how NBA bigs are highly paid if they have ever been half decent.



This deal is taking forever to complete. ESPN News and ESPN in general keep spinning it as a matter of time. But how long should it take?