AJC: Atlanta Hawks: Crawford, cash and a mysterious Frenchman

[Hawksquawk]

Crawford to Hawks.

When the night was over the Hawks had made a trade, saved some cash, earned some additional cash and drafted Xavier guard Jordan Crawford and Pape Sy, a mysterious prospect from France.

First, the deal on Crawford and the cash. He was one of a handful of players the Hawks liked who were still on the board. They weren’t sure he would be there if they traded down but had three other players in mind if he wasn’t (one of them was Dominique Jones, who was picked at No. 25).

Rick Sund said Atlanta had the “luxury” of deciding on a shooter, wing, guard or a big project center.

“We decided to go with the best available player,” he said.

Moving down three spots in the first round saves the Hawks about $190,000 for the two guaranteed years of Crawford’s contract. They also sold the rights to German center Tibor Pleiss to Oklahoma City for close to $3 million, the maximum amount allowable under salary-cap rules.

While the Hawks could have selected a project center or …

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