Having worked in commercial real estate for the past 10 years, I’ve learned the two biggest expenses for most businesses are (1) rent on office space and (2) payroll. I’m guessing new Hawks general manager Danny Ferry didn’t spend his first week on the job reading the office lease. The Atlanta Hawks for the better part of a decade didn’t spend their money wisely. Obviously this was in large part due to the contract that was handed to Joe Johnson back in the summer of 2010 when the Atlanta Spirit (Hawks ownership….I use that term loosely) panicked and handed Joe a six-year, $119 million contract. Throw in a $37 million contract to keep Marvin Williams back in 2009 and you have a franchise being tossed to the bottom of the Chattahoochee River in cement slippers.
In walks new general manager Danny Ferry. Danny heard all the whispers: Joe Johnson is untradeable because of his contract. In comes Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the newly branded Brooklyn Nets. New logo, new arena, new fans, yet, no new buzz. The perfect bait. All it takes is one crazy owner desperate to make a splash with his fan base. (I guess no one told Prokhorov that Joe Johnson is more like a small ripple in a puddle under theBrooklynBridge). The Hawks got the Nets to take the bait, in large thanks to a guy named Dwight in Orlando and Deron in New Jersey.
And so the Joe Johnson era is over in Atlanta. Joe takes his career 16.9 ppg playoff average, lack of leadership, disappearing act and comatose personality up to Brooklyn. Hey Joe, they just love quiet and timid in Brooklyn, particularly the media. They probably won’t remind you of that $90 million nut left on that contract weekly, if not daily. But, hey, that’s a them problem. While I’m at it, thanks for taking Mike Woodson off our hands up there. New York, New York – a town so nice, we sent you our crap twice.
A city has been known to celebrate when it lands a free agent (or is that just in Miami?). In a sick, strange way, the city of Atlanta is celebrating a salary dump like we just landed LeBron and Kevin Durant. It’s the classic addition through subtraction. The Hawks franchise just got better long term by relieving itself of an enormous burden…handcuffs from a contract that kept them stuck in neutral. Ever see a car get stuck in mud or on a sheet of ice? The wheels just keep spinning over and over yet you are going no where. Today Danny Ferry came by with a giant tow truck and got the Hawks out of a rut. This franchise now has a chance to get back in gear and move forward.
Atlanta has only seen one parade in 154 seasons of pro sports in this town. The Atlanta Hawks didn’t win anything today. Yet, if you test the pulse of the city after the moves this franchise made, you get the sense, a drive down Peachtree Street to celebrate the Hawks liberation might just be the perfect ‘Ferry tale’ ending to a wonderful day!
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