SH Blog: Looking at the Harden trade one week later

‘When you’re dealing with the brain, I guess what’s happening in football has affected everybody,’ the Hornets coach said. ‘You treat everybody like they have on white gloves and pink drawers. It’s getting old. But it’s just the way the league is now.’ Williams also said: ‘It’s a man’s game and we’re treating these guys like they’re five years old.’ “

Earlier today, Jason Richardson hurt his ankle while playing for the Sixers against the Knicks. The Philadelphia Inquirer has the details: “Less than two minutes into Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks, Jason Richardson drove to the basket and then landed awkwardly on a cameraman seated under the basket. Richardson did not return to the game after suffering a left ankle sprain. The X-rays on Richardson’s ankle came back negative, but it appears that he will be unavailable when the Sixers face the Knicks on Monday in the second half of their home-and-home series. ‘It’s a sprain. Hopefully it’s just a game or two — if that,’ Richardson, who left the arena in a walking boot, said after the loss.”

It’s looking like a tough season for the Bulls, at least until Derrick Rose comes back. Here’s Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News with another fairly bleak news item coming out of Chicago: “It’s really no surprise, but the Bulls are having no luck trying to move Richard Hamilton, whose $5 million in 2012-13 is fully guaranteed.”

Lawrence also has an interesting examination of the domino effect created by the Hawks’ GM switch: “Brooklyn’s ability to put a playoff team on the court and the Mavs’ failure to remake their team into a title contender may have come down to Atlanta making a critical change in its front office only a week before Deron Williams was free to leave the Nets.The Hawks planned on staying the course, with Joe Johnson headlining their team, if Rick Sund had decided to commit to a new long-term deal to stay on as general manager. Despite his team’s inability to win more than one round in recent seasons, Sund thought his core group of players, led by Johnson and Al Horford and with several others hitting the prime of their careers, could have gone deep into the postseason in 2012-13. But when Sund declined to stay long-term, the Hawks brought in former Cavs GM Danny Ferry to replace him as their chief decision-maker, with Sund now serving as Ferry’s adviser. Ferry was willing to make changes and that’s the only reason Johnson became expendable. ‘If the Hawks don’t make that change, then there’s a very good chance that Deron Williams would be in Dallas and Dwight Howard might also be on his way there,’ said one NBA executive. ‘The Nets were very fortunate that Johnson became available, and in the end it probably killed the Mavs’ plans.’ “

Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com has some notes about a Mikhail Prokhorov press conference, at which he gave his expectations for the Nets this season: “When Prokhorov purchased majority ownership of the team in 2010, he promised a title within five years. If that doesn’t happen, the billionaire bachelor will get married. ‘I have only three years left because I said if not, I would get married,’ Prokhorov said. ‘So maybe I am the most devoted guy for the championship.’ Asked to define a successful first season in Brooklyn, Prokhorov responded, ‘our plan is maybe the conference finals.’ But his ultimate vision isn’t even close to being realized yet. ‘We are waiting for the ring,’ Prokhorov said.”

Lang Greene of HoopsWorld writes about Hawks guard Jeff Teague, who didn’t receive an extension by Wednesday’s deadline: “One omission from the deadline frenzy was Atlanta Hawks starting point guard Jeff Teague. The fourth-year guard was admittedly disappointed a deal on an extension wasn’t reached and plans on using the contract snub as a motivational tool for the 2012-13 campaign. ‘I mean we tried but you know it didn’t work out,’ Teague told HOOPSWORLD. ‘[The numbers] didn’t match up. But you know it’s a little more motivation to go out there and try to prove to them that I deserve the things I was looking for and try to make the best of it.’ President of basketball operations and general manager Danny Ferry has consistently reiterated his expectation for Teague to assume a much larger role in the team’s framework this season, but it’s also no secret the club’s top priority is resolving the future of forward Josh Smith, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Hawks will most likely issue a qualifying offer to Teague ($3.5 million) before the start of free agency next summer, which will make the guard a restricted free agent and give the franchise the option to match any offer he receives.”

Dan Malone is a third-year journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He blogs on weekends for Sheridan Hoops.