Bibby To The Hawks: Good? Bad?... Pointless.

According to ESPN Mike Bibby is heading to the Atlanta Hawks. The point guard that led them through most of the recent success the franchise has enjoyed will be leading a new group of young players in Atlanta. Though I am not convinced he will be their primary leader.

Atlanta will be sending Anthony Johnson(G), Tyronn Lue(G), Lorenzen Wright(C), Shelden Williams(F/C), and Atlanta's 2nd round pick in the next draft.

It isn't that this is to much for Bibby, which could be argued. It's not even that Atlanta is giving a big enough name for Bibby, which is the other side of that argument. The real issue is I don't see how this helps either team.

From the King's perspective you are basically getting the 2nd round pick, Shelden Williams and a bunch of expiring contracts. While those expiring contracts will certainly make them players in the upcoming free agency market. They are acknowledging a serious rebuilding effort by removing the veteran leader of the team. You have to wonder how long until Artest is dealt he certainly can't be part of a any major rebuilding plan as he will be much to old by the time any serious rebuilding could be completed.

On the Hawks side of things I can definitely see the benefit of bringing in a guy like Mike Bibby. He is a veteran leader with playoff experience. It may be just what a young team like Atlanta needs. Then again a big part of the success there has been the camaraderie you can see spilling over from their play on the court. How will having the leader of that pack, Joe Johnson, benched in favor of Bibby effect those young players morale. Also how will it effect Joe Johnson specifically, he left money and a much more likely shot at a ring in Phoenix, in order to be the man in Atlanta. He is not likely to be a happy presence in the locker room, when he has to come off of the bench again.

Interesting side note on this trade. You have to wonder what Spurs head coach, Gregg Popovich, thinks about all this. He just let Beno Udrih go prior to this season. There is no way Sacramento is making this move without Udrih being such a capable distributor while Bibby was hurt. While Popovich will probably say all the right things, if he says anything at all. I bet if he is honest with himself he'd love to have Udrih instead of Damon Stoudemire right about now.

JJ Redick Wants Out, But Who Wants Redick

JJ Redick and his agent are looking into the possibilty of the Magic trading him. He obviously wants to see more time on the court. While Magic GM Otis Smith and Head Coach Stan Van Gundy have both said they love Redick and want to keep him, they are sending that along with a slightly mixed signal of never putting the guy on the floor.

Van Gundy has made it very clear that he needs defense and rebounding from that position and that is why Redick doesn't play. Really!?, you traded away Trevor Ariza and got Mo Evans in return explain to me how that is an upgrade in defense and rebounding.

My feeling is that they probably aren't as enamored with him as they say. I am going to assume that this is some level of gamesmanship. I mean if your guy says he wants out and you come out and say you want to move him (Cough::Jason Kidd::Cough) all of a sudden his value plummets. So that leaves us with where to go.

If they really wanted upgraded defense and rebounding then I would love to see him go to the Lakers for Ariza but somehow I don't see that deal working. (Side note: Thanks James) . Since they just gave him up recently I doubt they are looking to him as a missing piece of thier puzzle. So I am not sure what it would take on the Lakers but I imagine Phil would love to have a Steve Kerr/John Paxson type. Since Vladamir Radmonovich and Sasha Vujacic don't seem to be filling those roles.

Edit:This just got a lot less likely now that the Lakers have already made a huge trade

Another interesting prospect would be the San Antonio Spurs who play an offense that could fit Redick in nicely, and since we are still living the lie that this is about defense. The Spurs might be willing to part ways with Bowen, though I think it would take a bit more than Redick to get him.

Those are just some completely unfounded conjecture. In any case, the Magic can stop living this Lie and might as well get something for him. I honestly think that the only reason they are hanging on to him is because if when Peja goes down they can plug him in for his offense.

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