Most every NBA watcher agrees: The Hawks need to be sellers at this trade deadline. Trouble is, the Hawks have declared that they’re not selling the player who’d attract the greatest return, meaning Paul Millsap. Having said that, you’ve essentially said, “We are not — repeat, are not — in rebuild mode.”
So here’s what they are: A team with the fifth-best record in the East; a team that has been outscored over its first 56 games; a team that’s 23-22 since Nov. 16; a team that, one summer after losing to Al Horford to free agency and getting nothing in return, could likewise lose Millsap, and — key point here — a team with the NBA’s sixth-oldest roster.
The Hawks are also a team with a coach who’s their czar of basketball, which isn’t the norm and is rarely a good idea. It’s especially perilous if the czar’s team requires a reset — because coaches are constitutionally opposed to the idea of losing by design. Say what you will about the pressures inherent on a general manager, but GMs don’t have yearly won-loss totals listed under their names. Coaches do.
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