AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 18
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Despite win streak, let’s make a deal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three straight wins playing the style the Hawks envisioned from the start is a bit of an eye-opening experience.
The Hawks’ Fab Four (Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Marvin Williams) play together rather well, now that they’re all on the floor at the same time. And Marvin’s not even playing well right now. When he regains his shooting stroke, they could be a really lethal foursome.
But rather than yap all day about what should be obvious to everyone by now (that injury thing wasn’t just a crutch, it really turned this team upside down), I’m going to continue to push my trade theories.
(I promised a Hawks exec I was going to keep on pushing until they do something:)
So Thursday’s deal deluxe is (and this is just me playing with the trade machine and not anything that’s been discussed):
Hawks send Salim Stoudamire and Esteban Batista to Seattle for Luke Ridnour. Salaries work. And I’ve said repeatedly that I’m not juiced about giving up Salim, who I think is playing his role to perfection these days, but you have to give up something to get something. And Ridnour’s an absolute steal at $2.4 million over the next three years.
I also think that inserting a point guard who can excel in the transition game with the Hawks’ Fab Four could be a potentially devastating lineup. Ridnour’s suddenly the odd man out for the Sonics (don’t know why for sure and I really don’t care, since coaches and players get on the wrong side of each other on a regular basis in this league). So if they’re interested in moving him, why not snatch him now and plug him into this thing while the Hawks are still tweaking the chemistry?
I’ll admit, I’ve always appreciated Ridnour’s game and how crafty he is with the ball in his hands. I also like that he’s always been an up-tempo point guard (dating back to his days at Oregon with Fred Jones and Luke Jackson).
Think about it, and tell me what you would do?
