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Mike Bibby will return to Atlanta after agreeing to a three-year deal estimated at $18 million dollars.
Atlanta braced for the departure of Bibby by trading for Warriors guard Jamal Crawford and drafting Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague. Hawks Coach Mike Woodson anticipated Bibby's return.
“All I can tell you is to look at our team before he came here and then look at our team after we had him,” said Woodson. “This guy changed our team. His teammates love playing with him, and he’s great for me, too. He made a huge difference for me from a coaching standpoint. I can’t overstate his importance to what we’re doing here.”
Now the Hawks have a 3-guard rotation that includes Joe Johnson, Crawford, and Bibby. All three guards are more scorers than distributors. It would benefit the Hawks organization to develop Jeff Teague as a pass first guard to complement the abundance of scorers in Atlanta.
"Mike was the main difference for us," said Hawks forward Josh Smith. "We had some good guys, some vets and young guys over the years, that came in and held it down for us at point guard, but things changed for the better when Mike Bibby showed up. And nobody can argue that."
For more info: Fred Pennington, Atlanta Hawks Examiner