Give Sund a Hand

Hawks GM Rick Sund didn’t get as much attention at the trade deadline as Nets GM Billy King or Knicks president Donnie Walsh (or even Isiah Thomas for that matter). Regardless, his Mike Bibby-for-Kirk Hinrich swap will be as impactful as any deadline deal when the postseason rolls around.

“I think that was a great trade that didn’t get as much publicity,” a Western Conference Scout told HOOPSWORLD. “He’s what they needed. They needed to upgrade that position. Nothing against Bibby, but Hinrich is a lot better at this point, defensively and offensively. I think that’s a great trade for Atlanta.”

The Eastern Conference playoff picture probably gives the best explanation. The Hawks could find themselves pitted against Orlando’s Jameer Nelson, New York’s Chauncey Billups, Chicago’s Derrick Rose or Boston’s Rajon Rondo. And even though Bibby has played in many big games, his skills—particularly on defense—have been eroding for the past three years.

Hinrich, on the other-hand, is capable of guarding some of the better point guards and shooting guards in the NBA.

“They brought him in more for his defense,” the scout said. “They wanted to upgrade their defense there. When [opponents] set ball screens on the point, now you can switch.  With Bibby, they couldn’t switch at all. Hinrich helps them switch a lot more. Hinrich is excellent at getting around screens. He’s definitely their best perimeter defender."

One thing the HEAT will soon discover is that Bibby is only capable of defending a slower, smaller point guard; which is fine if someone signs Lindsey Hunter, but that’s wishful thinking. If Bibby is facing a faster point guard (like, say, Rondo), he can’t move over and guard a shooting guard because he’s too undersized. However Hinrich moves his feet well enough to defend most point guards, and, at over 6-3, he also has the size to match up against most 2s.

“When you have a Bibby, you try to hide him which is hard to do because of his size,” the scout said. “A lot of times teams will put their 2 on an aggressive point guard, but you can’t put Bibby on the 2. You can put Hinrich on anybody. Hinrich can guard Ray Allen or Rondo.”

Hinrich’s effect grows exponentially in the playoffs. Imagine the holes that open up when defenses are forced to repeatedly collapse on Rose and Rondo. Now picture that problem over a seven-game series.

Bibby does have a slightly better assist rate (28.5 to 26.5), but the Hawks have enough distributors in the backcourt to make up for the fact that Hinrich isn’t the purest pass-first point guard.

“They have Jamal Crawford also that can handle the ball,” the scout continued. “He can handle the ball well enough in their system. I think that Hinrich can handle it well enough.”

Joe Johnson’s assist rate (20.4) is the 11th best among shooting guards while Crawford’s (17.0) is tied for 24th.

Hinrich obviously isn’t the talent that Carmelo Anthony or Deron Williams are, but he does arrive in the right place at the right time.

Don’t Blast the Bulls

Some media outlets have harped on Chicago’s inability to land a shooting guard at the deadline, but the aforementioned Western Conference scout thinks the team made the right move by not trading center Omer Asik for Houston’s Courtney Lee.

“I would think if they could have picked up a 2 guard that might have been something good down the road,” he said. “It would have been helpful. I think Omer Asik is going to be a good player in this league, though. I would not have given him up. I don’t think Lee is that different from Keith Bogans to have given up Asik.”

Both Lee and Bogans, who is currently on the Bulls, are known primarily as defenders, and while the former has more years left in the tank, the latter is at least comparable in the short term. Asik on the other hand is a seven-footer who is tied with Tim Duncan for seventh place in rebounding rate. Oh, and he’s only 24.

The Dan Gadzuric Era is Only Just Beginning

Okay, so that subhead might be a stretch, but it looks like Gadzuric’s days with the Nets aren’t over. HOOPSWORLD reported earlier that he was left of the team’s flight to London so he could finalize a buyout by today’s deadline (players waived by March 1 are allowed to sign elsewhere before the playoffs). However, HOOPSWORLD has now learned that Gardzuric was indeed on the flight to London, which means he’ll likely be with the team for the rest of the season.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Brown Leaves Charlotte for New York

Had we read that headline at the beginning of the season, more than a few of us would have expected the ensuing article to be about former Bobcats coach Larry Brown. As it stands, former second-round pick Derrick Brown has been claimed by New York off waivers from Charlotte, writes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.

Brown, who was waived on Feb. 24, was miscast as a combo forward in Charlotte, but could find a role as a power forward under Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni.  Following in a long line of 4s from Xavier (Tyrone Hill, Derek Strong, Aaron Williams, Brian Grant, James Posey—who played power forward in college—Torraye Braggs and David West), Brown is a capable athlete with some upside. He’s also left-handed, but has failed to translate that circumstance into many blocked shots. In a little over two seasons he’s averaged 3.7 PPG, 2.0 RPG and has a 12.45 Player Efficiency Rating.

He averaged 13.7 PPG in his final year with the Musketeers.

Collins and Carlisle Named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month

Philadelphia’s Doug Collins and Dallas’ Rick Carlisle were named the Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively.

The 76ers reeled off a 9-3 February under Collins and now have a firm grasp on the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. And, since they’re only one game behind the Knicks and 5.5 games behind the Hawks, that situation can still improve.

Collins is actually putting together a decent Coach of the Year campaign with the way he’s improved the 76ers defense. Last season the team allowed 107.6 points per 100 possessions (23rd in the NBA). Now they rank ninth in defensive efficiency, allowing 102.2 points per 100 possessions.

Collins has also been getting more and more out of 20-year-old point guard Jrue Holiday, who has shot 51.5% from the field and averaged 13.2 PPG over his last 10 outings. Holiday’s PER has improved from 12.36 as a rookie to 15.51 this season and he’s dropped his turnover rate from 15.7 last season (third worst among point guards) to 12.1 this year.

Also, second-overall pick Evan Turner is no longer playing like a bust. His minutes were down in February, but he improved his field goal percentage to 46.8% for the month and has pushed his own turnover rate down to 9.3.

Meanwhile, Carlisle lead the Mavs to an 11-1 record in February, which means they’ve now won 16 of their last 17. They’ve also beaten the Celtics twice this season, which could be a big vote of confidence if the two teams meet in the NBA Finals—a distinct possibility.

More Twitter: HOOPSWORLD has launched a new Twitter module where we will be releasing more breaking news and insider-type information via Twitter. Make sure you are following all of our guys to insure you are getting the very latest from our team: @stevekylerNBA, @AlexKennedyNBA, @jfleminghoops, @TheRocketGuy, @EricPincus, @joelbrigham, @TommyBeer, @stephenlitel, @YannisHW, and @DPageHOOPSWORLD.

NBA Chats: Stephen Litel will dig out from under the snow in Minnesota to hold his weekly NBA Chat at 8pm EST. You can always find the next chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats.