The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and the Atlanta Hawks were amongst the many teams who made moves. Here’s an overview of Atlanta’s trade with the Washington Wizards:
Hawks get:
• G Kirk Hinrich
• F Hilton Armstrong
• Official Release
Wizards get:
• G Mike Bibby
• G Jordan Crawford
• G Maurice Evans
• 2011 first-round pick (from Hawks)
Hawks GM Rick Sund joined Buck & Kincade on WCNN on Friday to give his thoughts on the deal.
On what he thinks Heinrich will bring to the Hawks:
“I think that Kirk is going to bring something to our club that we need. Particularly on the defensive end, we’re not very high in the league in steals, that’s been a negative for us. And again this is an opinion, but I don’t think we’re great in loose balls, maybe some physical toughness. And I think those are part of his forte and resume. You know, he’s made the All Defense Team in his career. He’s 30, he’s a point guard, he’s physically tough, and what stands out in the minds when you think back of Kirk from the fans’ perspective, is the games with Chicago in the playoffs — with Boston last year and in some of the previous years. He’s kind of that tough guy who can make tough shots with the game on the line. He’s certainly a great free throw shooter; he’s certainly a great defender who will lock down on point guards as well as two guards as well as three. So I think he adds a dimension to our club that we’ve been lacking a little bit.”
On the Hawks’ other trade deadline addition, F Hilton Armstrong:
Like most teams, every coach and management group will say you can never have enough bigs. And he’s a big man. Today at the shoot around I was looking at him and he’s big and not just tall. So it gives you some depth, and in the Eastern Conference you’ve got to go through some teams with some big guys. Whether it’s Orlando, whether it’s Bosh in Miami, and who knows with Boston — a lot of their bigs have been hurt. Perkins of course got trade, but Shaq’s been hurt and the other O’Neal has been hurt. But they’re hoping they’ll be ready by playoffs. So the teams ahead of us have some bigs, so you can always use some extra bigs. So I think Hilton gives you a little depth there."