After his father gave him nothing but a name, Mike Bibby ends his Sacramento career by getting traded to one of the most comically mismanaged professional franchises in America? The Atlanta Hawks, the Atlanta Hawks are quick to point out, are just one spot away from a playoff berth. They are not quite as quick to point out that they are seven games under .500.
Bibby goes to Atlanta--Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Lorenzen Wright, Shelden Williams and a second-round draft pick in the June draft go to Sacramento.
Bibby is 29 years old, and probably has a few years left in the tank. I get that part of the deal. But The Hawks, even if they make the playoffs are clearly not advancing past the first round. They just aren't a very good team. Name an Atlanta Hawk right now! Can you? They aren't necessarily awful, but they are very very young. In theory, they have a nucleus building in Al Horford and Acie Law. So why would they trade away Shelden Williams, who I figured to be part of that nucleus, too? To get a point guard, to help make a playoff run, when they've got a young point guard in Acie Law? I don't understand this trade from the Atlanta point of view at all.
They've traded millions and millions of dollars of expiring contracts to get Bibby. Are they that desperate for a first round exit from the playoffs? They could have been huge players in the free agent market for the next couple of years with the kind of cash that was coming off the books.
Tyrone Lue thinks it is a good trade, which is very troubling right there. "It's definitely a good trade for the Hawks...If you could trade me and AJ for Bibby, you've definitely upgraded the point-guard position." Tyrone is right about that part of the point guard getting upgraded, but giving up Shelden Williams--I'm don't know. Tyrone Lue sounds like a man getting ready for forced retirement.
Sacramento fans, meanwhile, may be annoyed with the Fire Sale of their team over the past year or two, but this deal puts them in position to make the big free agent splash that Atlanta could have. And they get Shelden Williams, a young, raw talent who could be very very good in this league. And by giving up Bibby, and picking up the crappy point guards that they have, they've also done wonders for their chances as grabbing a top 5 Draft pick--and this years draft is going to just be fucking lousy with young talent. Giving up Bibby for a chance to draft Gordon or Rose or Beasley is pretty good work. Congrats, Maloof Brothers. You played this well.
Atlanta Hawks fans, if you judge success by an 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, congratulations, you have a chance now. If you judge success by winning playoffs, sit tight.
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