<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Minutes after the final home game of the month, Jason Terry issued a rather poignant plea to anyone who would listen that he not be traded away from the Hawks. "Atlanta has become my home," he said. "The Hawks are my team. This is where I want to be for the rest of my career." As today's 3 p.m. trade deadline approaches, Terry appears to have very little to worry about. Hawks vice president and general manager Pete Babcock has been steadfast in saying he does not want to trade Terry and sees little value in doing so. "We like Jason as a player and as a person," Babcock said. "He's a high energy player. He's very enthusiastic. He's not perfect, but he makes things happen on the court." One more reason not to trade him: "He doesn't make enough money," Babcock added, dealing with one of the anomalies of the modern NBA game. The midseason maneuvering has become one of trading contracts to deal with the salary cap and an impending luxury tax. With a $2.153 million contract this season and $2.933 million as a qualifier next season, Terry doesn't make enough money to allow his team to make a mega-deal trade. Working round the clock but without success, NBA general managers have not exactly been dealing talent-for-talent. They've tried to swap fading or injured payers like Derrick Coleman, Elden Campbell and Alonzo Mourning at the end of contracts in hopes of opening cap room for the future or simply lowering payroll. "It's been the big issue," Babcock said Wednesday. "No one we've talked to once wants to add payroll. They want to reduce it. Teams are afraid of the luxury tax, they don't want to spend more money." To some extent the Hawks are in that same boat, though they are not as obdurate as most. "It's almost impossible to make a deal that is dollar for dollar the exact amount you are taking in," Babcock said. ''In some cases teams want to reduce the amount they take in. They want to give up two for one. If two teams feel that way, a deal is impossible." Babcock noted that this has been the case in several proposed trades. To dispel some speculation, the Hawks said they are not looking to dump their roster. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Glenn Robinson are not part of a fire sale, although the Hawks are willing to trade anyone on the roster for the right combination of players.</div>
