NBA Trade Rumors: Atlanta Hawks Not Trading Al Horford, Jeff Teague?

NBA Trade Rumors: Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge isn’t sold on the fact that the Atlanta Hawks are ready to trade Al Horford, Jeff Teague

Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge is ready to play the NBA Trade Rumor game.

After reports earlier this week indicated that the Atlanta Hawks were ready to entertain potential deals for Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, Ainge doesn’t believe that the Hawks are going to pull the trigger on such deals. At least, that’s what he’s telling the media.

Interestingly, Ainge’s Celtics were listed in the report as one of the most aggressive teams that had reached out to the Hawks with interest.

With that said, Ainge isn’t sold on the fact that the Hawks are all that interested in breaking up their core.

More from Sir Charles In Charge

"[via MassLive]“There’s a lot of motivations that teams have. Sometimes it’s just to see what the value of their players are, and by leaking things like that you can find maybe what people are willing to offer. Typically when you do that and you leak out that you’re willing to move your team or break up your team and start over, you don’t really get — people are looking for bargains. They’re not going to give you the best deal. So my feeling is Atlanta will stay intact. They may make a trade or two but I don’t think they’re going to lose their key guys.”"

This is intriguing because who knows exactly what Ainge is trying to do – or say – with his remarks. First of all, we shouldn’t take them just as his thoughts. He’s an NBA GM that is trying to do everything in his power to give his team a competitive advantage over other teams. He’s not just saying things for the sake of saying things.

There’s also a big picture type of agenda with these types of things.

Maybe this is some type of continued negotiation tactic that Ainge is playing through the media. “You got our best offer and we aren’t budging.” Nevertheless, it is quite interesting.

Ultimately, I honestly believe that it’s a coin flip whether the Hawks decide to move Horford and/or Teague. The first thing they need to do is call Horford in the room, lock the door and ask him flatly if there’s a chance that he could re-sign in Atlanta. And he needs to be honest with the Hawks.

If there’s doubt in his answer, that’s Atlanta’s sign to trade the big man. There’s nothing worse than watching your prized possession walk away for absolutely nothing. Ask the Miami Heat.

And if they have to move Horford, then that makes the decision to move Teague and Korver 100 percent easier.

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