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InsideHoops.com NBA News

Atlanta Hawks general manager Billy Knight spoke to the media after trading Rasheed Wallace away to the Detroit Pistons in a three-way deal.

Q: Talk about today’s trade

Billy Knight: It just falls in line with things we wanted to do to go forward with. It’s a middle of the first round pick, but with the situation we’re in and having looked at all of the possibilities for the sign-and-trades in my mind I thought this was something that would be good for us to move forward and do now instead. Instead of looking at the possibilities, I didn’t like the chances of something happening over the summer the way. So I thought this would be better for us. So we moved in that direction now instead of waiting till later.

Q: Talk about the draft pick you received and your own along with the salary cap and what you’ll have to operate with during the summer

Billy Knight: There’s still some more intangible things that could happen and it could fluctuate some, but we’ll be considerably down and have money to spend if we deem to do so. But that certainly doesn’t mean you have to spend it because you have it. We have some picks; we’re trying to get some more picks. I’m not adverse to getting more picks than we have now. I just think the draft is so young that you can’t expect instant gratification from your draft picks because they’re investments, those are five-year contracts with those players. And the NBA is becoming more and more a developmental league. I think it’s safe to say we’re going to get a young player with our picks. We’re going to have young players that we’re going to have to work with and develop and improve something about them, but probably more than one thing. But they’ll be people we think have a good change of being good NBA players and can contribute to what we want to do.

Q: What are your expectations from the team with 28 games remaining with all the new faces in the lineup?

Billy Knight: I don’t have any expectations. Nothing set. We’ll go out and play the games and see what happens. That’s my only expectation – to go out and play the games. But it’s always tough when you’re in this situation and I’ve told Terry (Stotts) this privately and publicly that I appreciate his understanding through all of these things because it’s tough for a coach to be in the situation that he’s in because his job is to go out there and win games and I’m changing players all the time on him. But for the good of the organization, I’m not here to do what’s best for any one person – not even for myself – I’m here to do what’s best for the forward to go forward with and I think this is what’s best.

Q: How tough were these decisions to remake your roster?

Billy Knight: I can’t worry about that (not having high profile players). I’m trying to do what I think is best – not just for the rest of the season, not just 28 games, not just for next season – I’m trying to build the team for the long haul in the best possible. I know some things aren’t going to be popular decisions, but you don’t get into this to win a popularity contest. Everybody that’s watched basketball games automatically assumes they’re a basketball expert, and that’s why opinions are like armpits – everybody’s got one and they usually stink. But we’ll have to go with this one right now.

Q: Was Rasheed (Wallace) a bargaining chip?

Billy Knight: You can say that’s the way it looks. That’s the way it turned out, but that certainly wasn’t the intention. Rasheed (Wallace) is a heck of a player, but at this particular time for him in his life and career as a player the best thing for us and the best thing for him – he’s on a good team, they’re contending in the East and could be contending all the way. He’s going to a good situation where every game is going to be meaningful and like I said, at this stage of the organization and the stage in his life and career this is the best thing for everyone involved.