The NBA trade deadline is less than a week away, and if you had to guess one team that would unload a star it would probably be the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have been fielding offers for Al Horford and Jeff Teague, two guys that were All-Stars just a season ago, but it doesn't seem as though there has been progress made in any sort of deal. The reason why there hasn't been progress is because the Hawks' asking price has been extremely high, according to CSN New England.
Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports reported this in an interview with CSN New England, and he said if the asking price remains the same a trade isn't going to happen.
"From everything I've been told in the last two or three days, Atlanta's requests for both Al Horford and Jeff Teague have been borderline ridiculous. The kind of things teams like Boston, or Milwaukee, or Denver simply won't deal for the players they want," said Mannix.
Mannix went on to say that when teams have demands this hefty they tend to come down. The Boston Celtics are one of a few teams involved in talks for Horford, but they are the team that would be able to offer the Hawks the most. As the deadline gets closer the Celtics will have a better idea of whether Horford is actually attainable, but we know that if acquiring him is within reach, Boston President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge will do whatever he can to get him, within reason.
While the Hawks are the team most likely to unload a star, the Celtics are probably the most likely team to acquire one. The Celtics have a ton of assets, and Ainge wants to move some to get a guy that will bring his team over the top. Dwight Howard is a player whom the Celtics have been heavily linked to recently, but it seems as though Horford would be a better fit in Boston.
Horford, like Howard, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but the Celtics would likely be more willing to max Horford out this summer than they would Howard. They are similar ages (Howard is 30, Horford is 29), but Howard has had injury issues and is clearly in decline while Horford has been very solid in recent years.
We still have to remember that the Hawks are in fourth place in the East at the All-Star break and they could decide to stand pat and make a run this season. But if the Hawks decide to seriously consider trading Horford or Teague they will have to lower their asking price considerably to get a deal done.
