DENVER — Hawks general manager Rick Sund believes the thing that will make his team better can’t be acquired by Thursday’s trade deadline.
“What this team needs is for everybody to be healthy,” Sund said Tuesday. “What we need is no more injuries. That’s what we need.”
Hawks All-Star guard Joe Johnson is back in the lineup after missing six games because of tendinitis in his left knee that had slowed him for weeks. But center Al Horford, an All-Star the previous two seasons, is not expected to return by the end of the regular season and is not certain to be available for the playoffs.
Horford had surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle Jan. 17. He shed his sling and began rehabilitation Feb. 29. The uncertainty about his return makes it difficult for the Hawks to know what kind of team they will have for the playoffs.
“We won’t know how he can be until we get closer to three or four months [since the surgery],” Sund said. “We knew he would miss pretty much the season. We will wait and see what happens.”
The Hawks have remained in position for one of the eight Eastern Conference playoffs spots in spite of the injuries to Horford, Johnson and others. Entering Tuesday’s games they stood sixth in the East, just a half game behind fourth-place Philadelphia and 2 1/2 games behind third-place Orlando.
The Hawks are one of the top defensive teams in the NBA, and forward Josh Smith has carried them with good production in several areas. But their offense has suffered without Horford, their most efficient scorer, and rebounding has been a weakness against teams with size in the frontcourt.
Sund declined to comment on any specifics about Hawks goals as the trade deadline approaches. He did say he doesn’t have a mandate from the team’s owners to reduce payroll to avoid a luxury-tax bill at the end of the season.
“I don’t really discuss trades one way or another,” Sund said. “I always say the same thing: This time of year we talk to every team in the league and compare thoughts and notes and see if anything makes sense for the future or now.”
Sund also declined comment on forward Josh Smith’s standing trade request.
“I tell players and agents if someone talks to me about anything, whether it’s a situation with contracts or playing time or trades, anything that’s said is between us,” Sund said.
Hawks coach Larry Drew said he doesn’t think the looming trade deadline has been a distraction for his team.
“Guys are pretty focused,” he said. “If it is, I haven’t seen any signs of it.”
Etc.
Drew said Denver’s altitude “definitely makes a difference” but he didn’t plan to talk to his players about it before the Hawks played the Nuggets late Tuesday. “You can’t let that part of it get into your head,” Drew said. ... Hawks guard Willie Green (back) sat out the game Tuesday. He has missed seven consecutive games with the injury. ... Hawks forward Ivan Johnson missed Tuesday’s game and won’t be with the team for its game at the Clippers on Thursday. Johnson returned home to Texas last weekend for a family funeral and was expecting the birth of his first child.
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