I pray to God there is. I know the Nugs have been mentioned numerous times about trying to facilitate a deal for Harrington. Rumor had it we were close to a deal with ATL & GS, but it fell apart (no idea what was involved for us), so this wouldn't be too surprising. The rumor on the Nugs board also has us sending Dallas' first round pick. I still have to believe there has to be more to the deal than this.
It can't possibly be true-- Joe Smith was recently traded and cannot be traded again for several months. Dunleavy's contract would make him undesirable even for his own father.
Only if he's traded with another player. We were able to get JR Smith within 2 weeks of him being traded to Chicago. Draft picks don't count either.
I thought that Dunleavy is also a BYC player since he signed a contract extension last October: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2209616 But it's strange that hoopshype doesn't list his extension in their salary rundown. I think that he also may have a trade kicker that would make his salry higher than that of Joe Smith and Maggette, so that at least another player from Denver and from LA would be required, and as you pointed out, Joe can't be combined with another player in a trade for 2 more months.
Well, for what it is worth: New article up at pacers.com, an interview with Donnie Walsh,says that Indiana is still in negotions with Atlanta. Says that all the leaks in past weeks were not accurate. http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/walsh_harrington_060821.html The Pacers are still very much involved in discussions about a possible sign-and-trade deal for Atlanta forward Al Harrington, franchise CEO & President Donnie Walsh said today. Weekend media reports suggested ownership had stepped in to squelch the deal, leading the Hawks to re-open trade discussions with other teams. "I think we're coming down to it and we'll either get it or we won't," said Walsh. "It's a negotiation – in terms of the trade, in terms of the (contract). We've been negotiating and that takes time. Usually, the press doesn't get wind of that until it gets toward the end. But here it seems like they were in it before we had any understanding we could do a trade with Atlanta and then (reported) definitely that the deal was done or that it was imminent before we even talked to Al's people. You have to understand, there was also a change of agents in all this, so that took some time, too. "I think it's business as usual, myself. It's gone the way every deal goes for me." Walsh said co-owners Herb and Melvin Simon have been involved in the discussions, but that has been the norm throughout his career. The difference in this case, he said, has been the public nature of the trade negotiations through ongoing newspaper accounts in Atlanta and Indianapolis. "The owners always get involved. The owners were involved from day one," he said. "If you think you're giving out $20-40 million packages without getting in touch with the owner, you're crazy. (Herb Simon)'s involvement has always been helpful to me. Look, this guy has made some great deals in his life, so he always brings a wrinkle in that's useful. "I think he's in support of the deal but within the parameters." The framework for the deal is in place, Walsh said. What remains is to work out the details of Harrington's contract. "There have been three stages to this," Walsh said. "The first stage was where there were a lot of teams trying to trade for Al, we had the exception but it looked like they could get more money if they went in different directions so we weren't as involved then. When that got over with and those trades didn't go down, then they started focusing on us. But then we had to deal with Atlanta as to what it would take to make this trade. So that was a negotiation, and that took time. "We got to the point last week where we kind of understand each other and now we're dealing with Al. It's that simple." While not divulging details of the negotiations, Walsh said media reports of a 6-year, $57 million deal are little more than supposition based on the Pacers' $7.5 million trade exception. Those figures were reported before Walsh had entered into negotiations with Tellem, which began in earnest last week. Harrington fired his previous agent during the trade talks and hired Tellem, who was required by league rules to wait two weeks before assuming his role as the forward's official representative. "You're going through stages where the press seems to have things, I think from the players and the agents, because it's in their interest to kind of put it out there," he said. "I know this: we haven't made any statements, and I'm talking about me, Herb and Larry (Bird). "I just think there's been a lot of misinformation about where this deal was and a lot of suppositions. People had the deal negotiated before we even talked about it. It was pretty easy to look at our exception and say, 'Oh, it's going to be $57 million,' when we hadn't even talked about it yet. I read last week the deal was imminent. Who's telling them that? "Deals take time. There are negotiations going on. It's no different than any deal we've done other than it's been in the press for a long time. It has not been imminent at any point, and certainly not at the point it was reported to have been imminent." So what is the status of the deal? Said Walsh: "It's in negotiation." ------------ Reading between the lines....perhaps the Pacers and Atlanta are in agreement, but the Pacers have never wanted to give Al a 6 year deal instead of 4 or 5. Al and his agent have been desperately seeking someone to give him 6 years and close to 60 million, without the Hawks taking back bad contracts. That is not an easy task.
If the rumor were to turn out true then the GM, CM, needs to lighten salary load -- by dealing overpaid Murph for underfitting in JuHo.
The latest from ESPN is the Pacer deal will happen. Looks like maybe the Pacers realized the position of strength they were in and got the deal they wanted (4yrs/$35.3MM, player option on year 4). Once again, this throws some light on just how stupid the Sixers and (especially) the Nuggets were in overpaying Dalembert and Nene. The reason I slam the Nuggets harder is that this offseason sanity seems to be prevailing with their glaring exception. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2556933 Pacers, Hawks revive Harrington trade By Marc Stein ESPN.com The Indiana Pacers, after a seemingly interminable wait, appear to be closing in on a deal that formally secures the return of swingman Al Harrington. Arn Tellem, Harrington's new agent, told ESPN.com on Monday night that the Pacers are "very close" to finalizing a sign-and-trade arrangement with the Atlanta Hawks that's been weeks in the making. Harrington, according to NBA front-office sources, is expected to sign a four-year contract worth $35.3 million with the Hawks, who will then deal him to Indiana. It's believed that the Pacers will complete the swap without making a cash payment to the Hawks, who originally sought the maximum $3 million that teams can add to trades. Atlanta would receive a future first-round pick in exchange for Harrington. It was not immediately known if Indiana will also acquire third-year center John Edwards, whose departure would remove an extra $1.1 million from the Hawks' payroll. The most Harrington could have received from the Pacers is a six-year contract worth $57 million. But the fourth season of Harrington's new contract, sources say, will be at his option, meaning that the 26-year-old will have the opportunity to return to the free-agent market in the summer of 2009 if he chooses. On the Pacers' team Web site, club CEO Donnie Walsh was quoted Monday as saying that the framework for the trade is in place, with the final details of Harrington's contract still "in negotiation." "I think we're coming down to it," Walsh said, "and we'll either get it or we won't." Harrington's return to the team that drafted him 25th overall in 1998 was considered inevitable in front offices leaguewide for much of July, prompting interested teams to gradually drop out of the bidding. As negotiations dragged on, Harrington severed ties with agent Andy Miller and hired the high-powered Tellem to re-start the process. Yet reports over the weekend that the Pacers had squandered their chance to re-acquire Harrington proved unfounded because of Indiana's $7.5 million trade exception. That exception -- created in July when Indiana convinced the New Orleans Hornets to participate in a sign-and-trade for Peja Stojakovic instead of simply signing Stojakovic away outright -- has established the Pacers as the only Harrington suitor that could complete a sign-and-trade without forcing Atlanta to take back significant salary. Other interested teams include Golden State, Denver, New York and the Los Angeles Lakers. NBA front-office sources say that Atlanta's teetering ownership group, in the midst of a legal battle with former partner Steve Belkin to keep control of the franchise, has insisted from the start on taking back draft picks and/or cash as opposed to a player or two from Indiana's roster (such as center Jeff Foster) or a more expensive veteran. The Warriors, for example, offered power forward Troy Murphy to the Hawks last month as part of a sign-and-trade that would have netted Harrington something closer to the six-year, $66 million contract he was originally seeking. But Murphy, who averaged a double-double in his past three full seasons, has nearly $51 million left on his contract over the next five years. The Hawks eventually backed off their cash demands and told the Pacers they'd make the trade so long as Indiana sent them a first-round pick and agreed to absorb Edwards' salary. Atlanta's reluctance to deal with the other teams chasing Harrington maintained Indiana's position as the favorite to land the versatile forward, with the Pacers now hoping that the increasingly fast pace in today's NBA will permit Harrington -- at 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds -- to play plenty of power forward in an athletic frontcourt setup alongside Jermaine O'Neal and Danny Granger. Acquiring Harrington is doubly crucial because he'd ease the burden on Granger when it comes to replacing Ron Artest. The Pacers' $7.5 million trade exception thus looms as one of the most valuable assets of the NBA offseason. When Stojakovic gave the Hornets a verbal commitment to sign with them mere hours into free agency on July 1, Indiana faced the very real threat of having nothing to show for January's trade of Artest to Sacramento. But a payment to the Hornets believed to be in the $250,000 range -- coupled with the Hornets' knowledge that they'd likely be keeping Harrington away from a fellow West playoff hopeful like Golden State or the Lakers -- turned the Stojakovic deal from an outright free-agent signing into a sign-and-trade, thereby creating the trade exception that set up Harrington's return. It's believed that the Pacers did also explore the idea of making a sign-and-trade run at Indiana native Bonzi Wells earlier this summer, but Harrington was always their first choice. Wells, looking for a new team after Sacramento signed John Salmons in late July, would supplant Harrington as the best player left on the NBA's open market once Harrington-to-Indiana is consummated. "Obviously, Indiana, I'm more comfortable there because I've been there, I've been in the East," Harrington told ESPN.com during last month's Vegas Summer League, making it clear then that he expected to wind up with either the Pacers or the Warriors. "Going into free agency, obviously you think, 'I'm going to be at the bottom of the screen [on ESPN's Bottom Line ticker] like Ben Wallace and the rest of the guys.' But everyone's telling me to be patient, so that's what I'm trying to do." Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.
welp, looks like this rumor is down the drain. atl/pacer deal nearing end. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2556933
On the Pacers' team Web site, club CEO Donnie Walsh was quoted Monday as saying that the framework for the trade is in place, with the final details of Harrington's contract still "in negotiation." "I think we're coming down to it," Walsh said, "and we'll either get it or we won't." best quote i've read all month.
For what its worth, Ric Bucker said on ESPNews today that the Indiana deal for Harrington is all but done. I didn't think that the deal involving Denver had much weight to it, if atlanta had wanted Joe Smith they would have gotten him from Chicago plus Denver really doesn't have anything on their roster that looks even remotely good outside of Melo and Camby.
I hate Indiana. I do know that this deal was discussed as a fact. The Nugs insider that posts on the board I post on had confirmed as much before this rumor leaked to the papers. That said, it was obvious that Atlanta would have much rather done the deal with Indiana.
BTW, Nuggets4, your guy was unconscious last night. If Anthony plays like that throughout the season next year, you're looking at a possible MVP candidate. I think he's finally broke through to elite status.
