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The terms of the sign-and-trade deal that will send Hawks free agent Al Harrington to Indiana are nearly done, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
The Hawks will sign Harrington to a six-year deal worth an estimated $60 million and then send him and reserve center John Edwards, both former Pacers, back to Indiana in exchange for cash, a future draft pick and a trade exception.
The sticking point of the deal is the cash the Hawks will receive according to those familiar with the negotiations. The Hawks want more than the Pacers are willing to give. A deal for Harrington has stalled nearly a month after the NBA's free-agent negotiating period began.
"No, there is no deal. There is nothing new to report," Hawks general manager Billy Knight said Thursday afternoon.
While frustrated fans continue to wonder how long it will take for the deal to be done, Knight said he's not experiencing the same frustrations.
"I'm not exasperated at all," he said. "All you can do is see what happens at the end of the day and just let this thing play out."
The Hawks don't appear to be in any rush to finish the deal, something that's become a part of their operating procedures the past two summers due in part to their ongoing ownership dispute.
Last summer's major transaction, the sign-and-trade of captain Joe Johnson, wasn't completed until Aug. 19, just six weeks before training camp.
"Obviously we're disappointed at the pace of the transaction," Harrington's New York-based agent Andy Miller said Thursday, "but I will say that everybody is working diligently to find a solution to execute."
Calls to Harrington and Edwards were not returned.
The Hawks' preference for a draft pick and cash instead of players illustrates their desire to maintain the salary cap flexibility they've built up since they began dismantling a bloated payroll at the trade deadline of the 2003-04 season.
Harrington is the key to the Pacers' summer roster reorganization. The eight-year veteran began his career with the Pacers after they drafted him with the 25th pick in the 1998 draft.
The Pacers secured a $7.5 million trade exception in an earlier sign-and-trade deal with New Orleans/Oklahoma City that allows them to make the deal with the Hawks.
They're over the NBA's salary cap and would not be able to acquire Harrington without it.
Pacers president Donnie Walsh told the Indianapolis Star on Thursday that they are waiting on Knight.
"It's up to Billy now," he said.
"We're just waiting to here where we are. I have hope it can get straightened out, sooner rather than later. That's important to us. But I don't think we've reached a point where we say 'We have to get it done or we can't use the [trade] exception.'
"We'll just keep working on it and see if we can get it done."
Harrington deal close but stalling
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