Latest Ruling Paves Way for JJ to Join Hawks

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Joe Johnson's long-anticipated move from the Phoenix Suns to the Atlanta Hawks moved a significant step closer to completion Friday when a Boston judge reversed a ruling that had given Hawks part-owner Steve Belkin hope of blocking the sign-and-trade arrangement.

Johnson, in fact, traveled to Atlanta on Thursday night in anticipation of finally joining the Hawks, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com. After urging the Suns to let him go, the restricted free agent has been poised for nearly two weeks to sign a five-year, $70 million contract with an up-front payment of $20 million and then leave Phoenix for Atlanta in a swap sending Boris Diaw and two future first-round picks to the desert.

Formal completion of the trade, though, remains on hold until next week.

Suffolk County (Mass.) Superior Court judge Allan van Gestel on Friday dissolved a temporary injuction he had granted Belkin on Tuesday, after receiving an affidavit from NBA commissioner David Stern supporting a request from the Hawks' ownership board to remove Belkin as the team's representative on the NBA Board of Governors.

Yet as part of Friday's ruling, van Gestel also decreed that the Hawks' ownership board "now must comply strictly with the requirements" specified in the club's partnership agreement "to complete Belkin's removal" as team governor.

Those steps include providing written notice to Belkin of his "removable act" -- specifically Belkin's directive to the NBA last week not to proceed with the Johnson trade -- and giving him five business days to rescind that act.

It was not immediately clear if Belkin can now preserve his governor status by notifying the league office to go ahead with the Johnson trade, or if the Hawks will be able to complete their plans to strip Belkin of his governor status. The other two parties in the Hawks' three-headed ownership triangle -- one in Atlanta and another in Washington -- want to replace Belkin as governor with Atlanta-based Michael Gearon Jr.

It was also unclear Friday if the trade, which the teams agreed to in principle on July 30, can be consummated before those five business days elapse. If not, formal completion of the deal might be on hold until next Friday.

The Hawks' ownership agreement states that the groups from Atlanta and Washington and the Boston-based Belkin each hold one equal vote on club matters. Two-thirds of the Hawks' power structure backed the Johnson trade from the start.

NBA rules, however, dictate that every team -- no matter how many owners it has -- must designate one representative to notify the league on player transactions. That representative is typically the team governor.

Belkin, who possesses a 30-percent stake in the franchise, refused to approve the trade, saying the Hawks were giving up too much for Johnson by including the draft picks. Belkin's partners have maintained that his refusal to advise the league office that Atlanta was prepared to complete the trade last Tuesday was an action taken against the majority's wishes and thus grounds for removal.

Amid the ongoing uncertainty regarding Belkin's status, Atlanta management was tight-lipped after van Gestel's ruling. What the Hawks were prepared to acknowledge in a team statement Friday evening is that they "look forward to Joe Johnson becoming a member of the Hawks in the very near future." </div>

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