Thrashers, Hawks freed of shackles on player deals By TIM TUCKER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/12/06 The ban on multiyear contracts lasted just four days. The Maryland court that late last week prohibited the Hawks and Thrashers from signing players to contracts of longer than one year amended its order Tuesday, putting less stringent restrictions on the teams while their ownership dispute plays out in the appellate courts. Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Court Judge Eric Johnson said the revised order came "upon ... the joint application of all parties to this action," meaning the feuding owners finally agreed on something. Under the new order, which came on the eve of the NBA free agent signing period, the Hawks and Thrashers can make whatever player transactions they wish as long as their payrolls do not exceed their respective leagues' salary caps and as long as they do not enter into or acquire any player contracts of longer than four years. According to the order, transactions that exceed the new conditions would require the unanimous approval of the Atlanta Spirit ownership group's board of managers. That means estranged part-owner Steve Belkin would have to agree with his rival owners on such transactions. The new conditions will be in place during the appeal of Johnson's earlier order that Belkin is entitled to buy out the other owners at cost. Johnson last week granted a stay of that order, pending appeal, subject to certain conditions. The condition of the stay that provoked the most angst was the ban on initiating multiyear contracts for any players other than draft picks. The ban complicated the Hawks' plans to put togehter a sign-and-trade deal involving their free agent forward, Al Harrington. Such a deal involves signing Harrington to a multiyear contract and then dealing him for another player or players possibly carrying multiyear contracts. The modified order stipulates that the Hawks can sign a player to a contract of longer than four years for the purpose of including him in a sign-and-trade deal — as long as the players obtained don't have contracts of longer than four years. Hawks and Thrashers President and Chief Executive Bernie Mullin, who previously said the teams "couldn't live with" the ban on multiyear contracts, called Tuesday's revised order "a very welcomed development." "This allows the kind of flexibility that we needed," Mullin said. "And now we can move ahead and do the kind of deals that b oth Billy [Knight, Hawks general manager] and Don [Waddell, Thrashers general manager] need to do." He said that the ruling positions the Hawks well for today's official start of the NBA's off-season business. "Every deal that Billy Knight has spoken to teams about that we would consider to be in the best interests of the Hawks, we can do now that this condition has been modified," Mullin said. "So we are very comfortable going into the free agent period." Mullin would not comment on how the feuding owners came together to jointly apply for the modified order. But in an indication that the leagues were involved, a court document filed Tuesday noted the engagement of a Baltimore lawyer as "counsel for the nonparty NBA and NHL." The earlier order drew the concern of both leagues and their player unions because it would have created an unlevel playing field on which the Hawks and Thrashers would not have been able to fully participate in their leagues' economic systems. In an e-mail after Tuesday's modified order, National Hockey League Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said: "We are satisfied that the terms as amended are sufficient to allow Thrashers' management to conduct business in the ordinary course consistent with the terms of the NHL's CBA [collective bargaining agreement]." "We are satisfied with the amended order," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said. "The Atlanta Hawks will now be able to enter the free agency period with the same opportunities as our other 29 teams." Belkin did not return messages. "Talk to someone else," part owner Bruce Levenson said in an e-mail. "My name has been in your paper too much lately." The Hawks and Thrashers still will face some restrictions not faced by other teams. In the National Basketball Association, for example, most teams exceed the league's soft salary cap, and player contracts of up to six years are permitted. But according to documents previously filed in court, the Hawks and Thrashers had budgeted payrolls at or below the leagues' salary caps for the foreseeable future. The new order also extended until July 20 the deadline for the non-Belkin owners to post the $11.4 million bond that is designed to protect Belkin against loss during the appeal process. Barring a settlement, the appeal process is expected to last a year or longer. 資料來源 http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/hawks/stories/0712spirit.html -- 天降甘霖！有請..翻譯達人？ --

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