by Lang Whitaker
With Al Harrington perhaps the premiere free agent still unattached to any team this summer, it was fortuitous that a SLAM staffer ran into someone close to Harrington last night. According to our source, there are three teams coming hard after him: Golden State, Indiana and…the Knicks! From what we were told, all three teams have an equal shot at him — thirty-three percent for each team — and something could happen as soon as today.
For a while it was thought that the Hawks wouldn’t be able to make any moves at all this summer, after a Maryland judge in their ownership squabble case ruled they had to stand pat. But that ruling was relaxed yesterday, clearing the way for any possible deals. And if you’re a Hawks fan, it’s important to note that the ruling was made “upon…the joint application of all parties to this action,” which means Stevil Belkin and the actual owners — gasp! — finally came together for the good of the Hawks team and the Hawks fans.
Who would Atlanta want in exchange for Harrington? They already have four point guards under contract for next season (that is, if you count Ty Lue and Royal Ivey as point guards), so I don’t know why they’d want to get more PGs back for Harrington. My guess, and this completely uninformed, is that Golden State would be the leader in the clubhouse, because they have contracts and players to burn.
