The Atlanta Hawks are looking for an offer they can’t refuse.
Otherwise, expect Al Horford and Jeff Teague to remain in Atlanta past Thursday’s trade deadline.
The buzz in league circles for weeks has been the Hawks were testing the trade market for Horford and Teague, but the asking price was ridiculous. The theory was that as things got closer to the trade deadline, the Hawks would become more realistic. That’s not the case, according to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports on his Vertical podcast.
Horford tried to play down trade speculation while in Toronto for the All-Star Game (he was called to replace Chris Bosh on the East).
For me right now my focus is take things day by day...” Horford said. “I’m going to keep doing the things that I do. I can’t control the level of things that are happening and speculations that are going on....
“Yeah, I mean, for me I asked (Hawks management) for guidance, but at the end of the day I understand the
business of everything. I know how everything works, and for me I just need to stay diligent, keep doing what I do, and whatever happens will happen.”
There are teams very interested in Horford, including right there in Toronto (they need a four and with Horford could challenge Cleveland), but he is also a free agent this summer so teams are hesitant to give up too much without knowing if they can retain him (those conversations happen through back channels, teams have an idea).
My guess is Horford stays, and probably re-signs with the Hawks this summer.
Teague is the guy more likely to be moved, but that also could be this summer. The Hawks can hold on to him, make their playoff run, then dangle him in July to teams who missed out on their free agency targets and see if they can extract a high price.