Finally A Trade That I Like: Mike Bibby for Kirk Hinrich & Hilton Armstrong

Washington had long written off this season, and everyone knew that whatever Atlanta accomplished during the regular season would be a mirage. As constituted, the Hawks were simply not built to excel in the playoffs.

While Hinrich doesn’t get them over the top, by which I mean into the second round, he does make them more competitive in May than Bibby. Bibby, Crawford & Joe Johnson are all subpar defenders, who routinely exposed their undersized front court to foul trouble. Hinrich is a defense first player who can offset some of Crawford & Johnson’s weaknesses. He’s also a pass-first guard, a term which I am sure is music to Josh Smith’s ears.

Hinrich isn’t even what I like most about this trade, the inclusion of Hilton Armstrong will potentially allow Al Horford to spend more time at power forward. Armstrong and Pachulia can give them almost 40min a game at the 5.

Armstrong & Pachulia won’t solve their center woes, and sooner or later the team will have to trade either Smith or Marvin Williams. Williams should be the odd man out because Smith has outplayed him in every manner, but the Hawks are unsurprisingly having a difficulty finding takers for Williams.

And unless Atlanta can find a way to avoid Orlando in the first round, the gains from this trade will be negligible.

For the Wizards, this trade comes down to more draft picks, which will give them more chances to acquire young talent to pair with John Wall, Javale McGee and (gulp) Nick Young.