The NBA trade rumors are blowing up with news that the Atlanta Hawks are open to trading their All-Stars.
After Jeff Teague, Al Horford is now the player that the Hawks are willing to swap according to a report from Yahoo Sports writer Marc Spears.
According to Spears citing league sources, the Hawks are "expected to listen to teams that inquire about Horford because they don't want to risk losing him for nothing."
It should be recalled that the Hawks drafted Horford with the third overall draft pick in 2007. While Horford said "he wouldn't mind finishing his career in Atlanta." However, Spears points out that loyalty may give way to another factor.
"Spanish-speaking Horford, who was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, understands the appeal of cities with a more international flavor," Spears said. "Horford could potentially land more off-court opportunities in much stronger Spanish-speaking NBA markets in Florida, New York, Texas or California."
One caveat of teams trading for Horford is that he will be a free agent at the end of the season. The teams from those locations would probably be more confident of their chances to keep Horford beyond this season.
California, specifically the Los Angeles teams would be an interesting starting point. With Blake Griffin also on the trade rumor mill, Hawks fans have started to crow about Horford (plus other players for salary fit and draft picks) for Blake.
But the Lakers will not be outdone. In Lake Show Life, pursuing Horford was pondered but the Lakers are short on assets and picks. Still, they suggest that the Lakers could get someone like Nikola Pekovic whom the Minnesota Timberwolves would like to get rid of (as they already have Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng) and use Roy Hibbert's expiring contract, then trade Pekovic to the Hawks.
While Horford is a good player, his value is reduced since there is no assurance he could be more than a rental (the DeAndre Jordan episode seemed to reinforce that). Thus, the Hawks should may not be able to extract equal value but it's better than nothing.