Gary Payton Does it ... again!

[chowmein]

The Glove

why the frontrunning? WHY?

 

[SaltBoy]

What? So the Hawks' plan was to get rid of him all along?!

 

[PoPPeR]

i'm confused. Story?

 

[OrByte]

yeah, this deserves a big WTF!?!

 

[venk]

that was the plan from the start. If he was just front running, he would have went to the Heat instead of the Celtics.

 

[maddogchen]

why did Atlanta waive him so he could go resign with the Celtics? makes no sense.

 

[chowmein]

Heat does not need him

 

[Ranger X]

The Hawks were probably doing this trade to save money and had no intentions on keeping Payton in the first place. It works out for both sides since Payton can now sign with a "contender".

But I agree, I think we all saw this coming.

 

[Qwest]

pretty obvious he wouldnt report ot the hawks.
so basically the celtics got toine back as a free agent?

 

[chowmein]

i would not be surprised if boston won the finals, damn sports industry is rigged I TELL YA

 

[MegaWorks]

I don't get

 

[jalaram]

Originally posted by: chowmein
i would not be surprised if boston won the finals, damn sports industry is rigged I TELL YA

I would be extremely surprised if any team from the Atlantic (incl. my Sixers) made it to the Finals.

 

[Patt]

The Hawks waived him to acquiese to his wishes ... they're going to lose him after the season to free agency anyway. I am impressed, somewhat, that he chose to return to the Celtics after he tried to jump on the Championship bandwagon that disappeared in LA with Karl Malone.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: chowmein
i would not be surprised if boston won the finals, damn sports industry is rigged I TELL YA

antoine walker is not going to help the celtics win the finals, heh

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: chowmein
i would not be surprised if boston won the finals, damn sports industry is rigged I TELL YA

antoine walker is not going to help the celtics win the finals, heh

As long as no one passes him the ball towards the end of the 4th quarter they have a chance.

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: SaltBoy
What? So the Hawks' plan was to get rid of him all along?!

im not sure... but there were rumours he wasnt even going to report there cause he wanted to play for a contender...
anywya the glove is old and hardly as effective as everyone thought (just look back at last years playoffs where he got OWNED by tony parker, hardly a great defender or offensive dynamo...(sure hes good but cmon..)
so yeah i think now that the celts are makin a playoff run it will be interesting to see how they stack up with miami and philly...

 

[Lorax]

the hawks are a mess right now anyway due to the new ownership scenario, Stern really needs to straighten that team out, and fast.

and boston is going to be good, maybe even finals, but no way they'll win it all... their bigs suck too much.

 

[jdub1107]

ESPN reported this would probably happen right when the trade was made.

 

[fs5]

HAHAHA.. I though he would go to a contender but it looks like he likes boston.

 

[Led Zeppelin]

Originally posted by: fs5
HAHAHA.. I though he would go to a contender but it looks like he likes boston.

The C's are in first place mofo!

I can see this coming. The Red Sox win the World Series, the Pats repeat as Super Bowl Champs, and the Celtics will once again reign supreme!

 

[Queasy]

The Hawks are just dumping salary so they can sign a quality free agent in the off-season. They had no intention of ever keeping Payton. They just wanted the Celtics' draft pick to get young athletic talent. The Hawks will likely end up with the #1 draft pick.

They had better make a move soon though. They are at a point where they can't afford to keep dumping salaries.

 

[Armoth]

The best thing about the Hawks at this point is Josh Smith and maybe Childress...

 

[Qwest]

what free agent will want to go to ATL?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Qwest
what free agent will want to go to ATL?

Atlanta is a great town as far as things to do, celebrities to be around , and all the other things that NBA players enjoy. It's just the team has sucked donkey butt since Dominique Wilkins left. Atlanta will probably have to pay extra to get a quality free agent in here. That or hope to hit gold with both their 1st round draft picks this year.

 

[chuckywang]

so an NBA veteran and future hall of famer without a ring wants to go to a place that has a chance of winning. seems reasonable to me. NBA trades never make any sense anyway.