So the Hawks' deadline haul is ... Kirk Hinrich?

Goggles up! (Curtis Compton/AJC photo)

Credit: Mark Bradley

Credit: Mark Bradley

Goggles up! (Curtis Compton/AJC photo)

The belief here was that the Atlanta Hawks would do nothing of consequence at the trade deadline . They did even less. They traded Shelvin Mack and Justin Holiday -- two guards who didn't play much -- plus a second-round pick for a 35-year-old guard who was past his prime when he played here four years ago. If you're thinking, "Gee, that seems like a lot to give up for a guy who has little left" ... well, you're not alone.

The more I see of the post-Ferry Hawks' moves, the more I miss Danny Ferry. Since Mike Budenholzer and Wes Wilcox took charge of personnel, the Hawks have: Traded Adreian Payne, the 15th player taken in the 2014 NBA draft, to Minnesota for a lottery-protected first-round pick; parlayed the 15th pick in the 2015 draft into Tim Hardaway Jr., who was the 24th pick in the 2013 draft and who has become the Hawks' 10th man; traded for Tiago Splitter, whom the Spurs were desperate to unload to clear cap space for LaMarcus Aldridge and who has done little here before getting hurt. Now this.

(OK, they also re-upped Paul Millsap, who remains the Hawks' best player. But that didn't leave enough money to keep DeMarre Carroll, which I understood. Toronto overpaid for him. Still, Carroll is much missed.)

Understand: I'm not upset the Hawks didn't trade Al Horford for Dwight Howard. ( I'd have been upset had they traded Al Horford for Dwight Howard. ) I agree with the decision to keep Jeff Teague, at least until the summer. I didn't believe this core needed to be dismantled, at least not yet. But this is a team that will need to get younger very soon, and their deadline haul was ... Kirk Hinrich?

I know, I know. He won't be here long. (He has an expiring contract, thank goodness.) He might be able to guard somebody late in a game come April/May. But here's a team that could have used almost any big young body -- the Hawks are terrible at rebounding, and Splitter has been lost to hip surgery -- and they got ... Kirk Hinrich? Another perimeter guy?

Maybe I'm making too much of this. Sometimes a team makes a trade just to make a trade. But I can't help thinking the better course would have been to do nothing. Two guards and a Round 2 pick for ... Kirk Hinrich? Really?

Further Hawks reading:

Dwight Howard to the Hawks? Wouldn't be prudent.

8 questions the Hawks must ask themselves.

The Hawks have gone from soaring to slogging.

The Hawks shouldn't trade Horford -- or Teague.