NBA Junkie
08-18-2006, 08:58 PM
Free agent forward Al Harrington said on Friday that the proposed sign-and-trade deal that would send him to Indiana is now dead.
The deal was dealt its fatal blow when the Pacers owners declined to agree to take Harrington — whom the Hawks were to sign to a six-year, $57 million deal — and third-year center John Edwards from the Hawks in exchange for a future first-round draft pick.
After negotiating the deal one way, the Pacers owners decided they wanted to do a shorter deal, four years, and for far less money, $36 million.
The Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, all teams that have been in the Harrington mix from the start, are now poised to land the highest-profile player left on the free agent market.
Friday's development, though, ends a month-long saga that would have returned Harrington to the Pacers franchise that drafted him, the team he spent his first six NBA seasons playing for in the city his mother and father now call home.
"I'm just ready to know where I'm going to be playing next year," Harrington said by phone. "The Indiana deal was something that I really wanted to do. I was looking forward to it since it's a place I'm so familiar with. But it didn't happen. I want to be somewhere I'm wanted, and these other teams are really interested.
"I feel like I can make an impact with any of those teams, whichever uniform I end up wearing. But ultimately, you have to go where you are wanted."
The deal was dealt its fatal blow when the Pacers owners declined to agree to take Harrington — whom the Hawks were to sign to a six-year, $57 million deal — and third-year center John Edwards from the Hawks in exchange for a future first-round draft pick.
After negotiating the deal one way, the Pacers owners decided they wanted to do a shorter deal, four years, and for far less money, $36 million.
The Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, all teams that have been in the Harrington mix from the start, are now poised to land the highest-profile player left on the free agent market.
Friday's development, though, ends a month-long saga that would have returned Harrington to the Pacers franchise that drafted him, the team he spent his first six NBA seasons playing for in the city his mother and father now call home.
"I'm just ready to know where I'm going to be playing next year," Harrington said by phone. "The Indiana deal was something that I really wanted to do. I was looking forward to it since it's a place I'm so familiar with. But it didn't happen. I want to be somewhere I'm wanted, and these other teams are really interested.
"I feel like I can make an impact with any of those teams, whichever uniform I end up wearing. But ultimately, you have to go where you are wanted."