Their situation is unsettling

Legal battle continues in Hawks' front office

A fine mess. That's what's going on with the Atlanta Hawks. And we're not even talking about the fact that they stand no chance of beating the Celtics, Josh Smith's callow exuberance notwithstanding.

No, we're talking about the unending ownership battle between Boston's Steve Belkin and his former allies who, it might be hard to remember, were unified at one point. Now, after two court rulings and nearly three years into the legal battle, there still is no end in sight to a rather important question: Who really owns the Hawks? (And, for that matter, the Thrashers and Philips Arena.)

The ownership group - which has three geographic bases - gathers every other week for board meetings and avoids throwing spitballs at each other. Michael Gearon Jr. represents the franchise at NBA Board of Governors meetings. The team functions, sort of, although CEO Bernie Mullin didn't make it through the season and has not been replaced.

Belkin won a 2006 circuit court decision that said he was entitled to own 100 percent of the basketball and hockey teams and the operating rights to Philips Arena. But last September, an appeals court tossed out the ruling and sent things back to court, ordering depositions, discovery, and all the other usual legal stuff. That is going on now.

A trial date has been set for - are you ready? - February 2009, so this thing will extend into next season. Probably through next season. You know who wins these things: the lawyers.

You may recall that this one started when Belkin raised an objection to the Hawks' rather hefty cost to secure Joe Johnson from the Suns. Johnson was a restricted free agent and Atlanta offered him a whopper of a contract in August 2005, complete with a whopper of a signing bonus that has been estimated to be as low as $13.5 million and as high as $20 million. That was supposed to be a deterrent for the Suns to match, but Phoenix had no intention of matching it anyway.

But the Suns, in one of former general manager Bryan Colangelo's many shining moments, bluffed the Hawks into thinking they'd match the deal and somehow persuaded Atlanta to part with Boris Diaw and two No. 1 picks in a sign-and-trade for Johnson. That was what Belkin objected to, and thus started the whole williwaw in upper management.

Further, in normal sign-and-trade deals, the pursued individual signs a max deal with his own team before the trade so he can (a) get an extra year and (b) get greater annual raises. The Suns didn't do it and Johnson's offer sheet became his contract: five years, $67.44 million.

Diaw, of course, has been an integral part of the Suns since the trade and captured the Most Improved Player Award in 2005-06, his first season in Phoenix. The first No. 1 was one that came to Phoenix from the Hawks, who had acquired it from the Celtics in the Antoine Walker trade. Phoenix used it to - are you ready for this? - pick Rajon Rondo in 2006 at Danny Ainge's behest. Ainge gave the Suns a No. 1 pick in 2007 (the one he got from Cleveland for Jiri Welsch) and took Brian Grant's contract in return for drafting Rondo. (I'd say that worked out.) The Suns then turned around and traded the Cleveland pick, along with James Jones, to Portland for $3 million.

The other No. 1 pick was protected until this year, when, much to Suns' chagrin, Atlanta sneaked into the playoffs. So the pick that goes to Phoenix will be No. 15 overall.

Johnson has gone on to play quite well for Atlanta, making the All-Star team this year (over Paul Pierce's objections) and being named a member of the national team by USA Basketball. He has been the best player on a bad-to-mediocre Atlanta team for the last three years and tonight will be returning to the place where it all began for him as a rookie way back in 2001 for the Celtics.

(True story: In one of the many what-ifs in Celtics history, when they dealt Johnson to Phoenix in February 2002, the Suns didn't care whether they got Johnson or Kedrick Brown in the deal. They would have taken Brown to make the deal work simply to get out of Tony Delk's contract. At the time, Johnson was in the doghouse and Brown was the flavor of the month. So the Celtics put Johnson in the deal and kept Brown.)

The Hawks ended an eight-year playoff drought in rather underwhelming fashion this season. GM Billy Knight, who drafted Marvin Williams over Deron Williams/Chris Paul, and Shelden Williams over Brandon Roy, still makes the basketball decisions. (He appears to have gotten it right on Al Horford and turned Shelden Williams and assorted other flotsam into Mike Bibby.)

Mike Woodson, whose team won 37 games this year and earned the right to play at least four more, is still the coach. He has 106 wins over the last four seasons, although the meter is going in the right direction: He won 13, 26, and 30 games his first three years.

Don't be surprised if Belkin shows up at the Garden tonight for Game 1. If you see him, wish him well and congratulate him on his stick-to-it-iveness, if nothing else. He still has an Atlanta Hawks logo at the center of the basketball court in his home in the suburbs. One of these days, he might even own the team - again.

Twenty questions

NBA commissioner David Stern has been making the rounds, talking about another increase in the minimum age for a drafted player. Unless he's willing to offer the union a substantial inducement, he's wasting his time.

"My position is the same as it's always been: I am opposed to it," said union chief Billy Hunter. "In the last agreement, we agreed to raise the age in return for some tradeoffs. But I am clearly opposed to doing it again."

Right now, a US-born player has to be 19 years old and one year removed from high school to be eligible for the draft. Stern would like the age limit to be raised to 20.

Hunter said 45 high school players have been first-round picks since 1975 and there is an 82 percent success rate for those lads. In recent years, when high schoolers flooded the first round before the age limit went into effect, there have been only two real bombs, Hunter said. Those would be Leon Smith and Ndudi Ebi.

"We've had no problem with the kids coming into the league out of high school. They behave," Hunter said. "This is just more of the NBA wanting college to be a proving ground for the kids when the reality is they'd be better served coming into the NBA because they don't teach skills in college. And I don't hear the fans clamoring for an increase in the age limit."

And we're still years away anyway. The current CBA runs through the 2010-11 season, and the NBA has the option to extend it through 2011-12.

Teams brace for incoming taxes

How many times have we read that the Heat's decisions on not re-signing James Posey, Eddie Jones, and Jason Kapono were driven by luxury-tax matters? (This from a team whose owner has a choice of yachts and cruise boats any time he wants to leave home.)

Well, the ever-intrepid Ira Winderman of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel got his hands on an NBA audit of teams for the season, and guess who's paying a luxury-tax bill of more than $8 million. The Heat. (Oh, I get it. They just didn't want to pay $15 million and win as oppose to paying $8 million and lose.)

According to the audit, eight teams face luxury-tax bills this summer, ranging from the Knicks (around $20 million) to the Suns (a little more than $3 million). The Knicks and Heat are the only two luxury-tax payers who did not make the playoffs.

The Celtics knew all along they'd be paying after making the trade for Kevin Garnett. (Seems to me a fair swap, but I don't pay the bills.) Their tax bill will be in the $7 million neighborhood.

The other luxury-tax payers are the Mavericks, Nuggets, Cavaliers, and Lakers. The eight teams combined will pay more than $90 million, which will then be dispersed to the non-tax teams. Donald Sterling has already spent his share.

Etc.

Coby and Kobe
Among the many subplots in the Denver-Lakers series (aside from the Nuggets raising a banner in the Pepsi Center saying, "2007-08: Best 8th Place Team EVER!") is that Nuggets coach George Karl will be trying to oust his son's employer. Rookie Coby Karl appeared in 17 games for the Lakers this season, amassing a total of 71 minutes of NBA playing time. For now, though, Karl is on the inactive list, so he'll likely be in David Stern-approved threads today. Meanwhile, presumptive league MVP Kobe Bryant is going to bat for Phil Jackson as an eminently logical selection for Coach of the Year. Says the Kobester, "I'm kind of appalled that he's only won one," referring to Jackson's sole award in 1996. "If people don't want to give him the credit that he deserves, then they're just idiots."

Productive Sessions
All right, what is the deal with Ramon Sessions? Who ever heard of Ramon Sessions until, like, the last two weeks? Well, he sure made his presence felt, winning the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month Award, and giving Bucks fans something to cheer about in an otherwise bleak season. If you happened to see him when the Bucks came to town April 11, he had 8 points, 14 assists, and 5 rebounds. But he made jaws drop on the morning of April 15, when box score devotees saw he went for 20 points and a franchise-record 24 assists against the Bulls. And this was a kid who spent most of the year with the Bucks' D-League affiliate in Tulsa. He had 25 points and 14 assists in Milwaukee's season finale. Sessions was the 56th pick in last year's draft, coming out Nevada.

A tough road for Miles
Leo Papile, the Celtics' assistant director of basketball operations, has been watching young talent for a long, long time. In the spring of 2004, he watched Darius Miles swoop in and score 31 points for Portland in a victory over the Celtics and offered that Miles was one of the three best high school prospects he had ever seen. Miles spent 4 1/2 years with Portland, much of the time injured, and he was waived last Monday. He had not played a minute in either of the last two seasons because of right knee woes. An independent doctor termed Miles's injuries to be career-threatening, which allowed Portland to release him and get some cap relief. While Miles still gets his money (he has more than $27 million due), the Blazers can get insurance money from this season and his future salaries do not count against the cap. And his salary also comes off this season's books, which means owner Paul Allen won't have to pay a luxury tax, which, as we know, has to be a relief.

Hitting below the belt
Royal Ivey sure went out with, er, a bang. In case you missed it - and no one would be surprised if you did - Ivey was suspended three games for punching Bulls big man Aaron Brown in the, um, groin last Monday. Ivey missed the Bucks' season finale against the Timberwolves. The real kicker is the next two games. When will those happen? Ivey is not signed for next season and no one is going to be knocking on his door this summer. Does the suspension apply to D-League Games? CBA games? FIBA games? The NBA said he would be suspended for the next two games in which he's eligible to play next season. So maybe there's a one-season statute of limitations. Consider yourself forewarned if you were thinking of Ivey as one of your fantasy picks next year.

Another Rocket grounded
Tough break for the Rockets, who will have to go up against Utah without Yao Ming (which they've known for a while) as well as point guard Rafer Alston (which they just found out last week). The Rockets say Alston, who has a strained hamstring, will miss at least the first two games of the series, which opened last night at the Toyota Center. Alston was a key factor in the Rockets' torrid stretch in February and March in which they ripped off 22 straight wins. Bobby Jackson, who has extensive playoff experience, will likely take over Alston's starting spot, and rookie Aaron Brooks may get some time off the bench.

Above and below
Props to Perk. We think. Kendrick Perkins shot 61.5 percent from the field this season, which established a Celtics record for field goal percentage. Or did it? Well, Cedric Maxwell had the old mark of 60.9 percent, established in the 1979-80 season. But the NBA minimum to qualify for a league title in field goal shooting is 300 made attempts. Alas, Perk came up well short of that, making only 214. So if he didn't make enough to qualify for the league rankings, does he qualify for the team's? By the way, Andris Biedrins of the Warriors had the highest field goal percentage for a player with 300 or more makes, 62.6 percent.

Peter May can be reached at pmay@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.