Hawks: Joe Johnson Deal Dead?

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ATLANTA -- As the Atlanta Thrashers showed off their big NHL free-agent signee Thursday, the NBA Hawks and their would-be new star were still in trade limbo.

On Tuesday, when the Thrashers first announced they had signed center Bobby Holik, the Hawks made first mention of a "procedural issue" that was holding up a sign-and-trade deal to send guard Joe Johnson from Phoenix to Atlanta.


Since both teams are owned by the same Atlanta Spirit LLC group, two owners -- Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon Jr. -- and chief executive officer Bernie Mullin couldn't avoid questions about the Hawks at the Thrashers' news conference Thursday.


The Thrashers moved quickly to sign Holik while the Hawks are left in limbo in their pursuit of Johnson. The contrast of the two deals left the impression that Hawks general manager Billy Knight doesn't enjoy the same support from the ownership group as does Thrashers general manager Don Waddell.


Also, no one willing to speak about the Johnson deal would deny that one owner -- Steve Belkin -- is not on the same page with the rest of the group.

The rift has escalated to the point that Belkin has gotten a restraining order against his partners, who are looking to strip him of his role as the team's NBA governor, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on its Web site on Thursday.

"We are aware of the lawsuit filed by Steve Belkin in Boston. We will not allow that to deter us from building a winning team in Atlanta," Gearon told the Journal-Constitution.

"This is real damaging. This can't work if everybody is pulling in different directions," former Hawks star and current team vice president Dominique Wilkins told the paper.

Mullin acknowledged that having Knight appear to lack Belkin's support is not good for the Hawks' chances of dealing with other free agents.


"Obviously, it's a concern at this point in time," Mullin said. "It's not a concern in the long term."


Added Mullin: "Management is 100 percent behind Billy Knight as is clearly the overwhelming majority of the ownership group."


The "overwhelming majority" does not include Belkin, the NBA governor in the ownership group and the man who must sign off on all deals.


Belkin did not attend Thursday's news conference and did not return a phone message.


Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche said Knight had no comment on the trade Thursday.


Levenson conceded that the breakdown in the trade talks "is not the way I would script it."


"I would be happy today if Joe Johnson were an Atlanta Hawk today, but we are working as hard as we can to make that happen," Levenson said.


Belkin may be concerned the Hawks are giving up to much to obtain Johnson, who would sign a five-year, $69.6 million contract with Phoenix that would include a 2005-06 salary of about $20 million. The contract would be traded to the Hawks, who would give up two first-round picks, second-year guard Boris Diaw and a $4.9 million trade exception.</div>

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