Looking down the Jazz bench, two people sit to the side of Jerry Sloan. Assistant coach Phil Johnson is at Sloan?s right and Head Athletic Trainer Gary Briggs is at the left. But while Sloan and Johnson are diagramming each play, Briggs examines each player?s movement.

Briggs? is looking at the way bodies slam together, knees are bend, and players end up on the floor.

?People say, ?you don?t get that excited during the games?,? says Briggs. ?It?s because I?m trying to watch the play. Sometimes I can tell what an injury is if I was able to see it.?

The Atlanta Hawks could not make a deal to better itself before the Thursday trade deadline, Hawks GM Pete Babcock told RealGM?s Jason Walker soon after the trade deadline.

?We were not able to put together a trade that improved our team in the areas we were trying to address,? said Babcock.

The Atlanta Hawks have long been rumored to be the major player in the trade deadline rumor mill, but according to Babcock, the rumors that have permeated the internet, radio, and TV were just that.

Most of the rumors centered around the Hawks attempting to dump salary, but Babcock says this was not the case.

?We were directed NOT to dump salary, but to make good basketball moves only,? claims Babcock, which would mean that rumored deals that would have sent Jason Terry and Theo Ratliff to LA and Shareef Abdur-Rahim to other cities were not likely considered.

It wasn't like in the movies. On film, DerMarr Johnson has seen cars blow up hundreds of times, but this was different, more hazy.

"It kind of felt like a dream," he says, and, indeed, as he describes the way his blue Mercedes smacked into a tree in the early morning hours of Sept. 13, he keeps pausing, trying to reel a coherent recollection from his murky pool of memory.

"I was weak, and my friend, he pulled my body out of the car. I pulled out my legs. Then we rolled down the hill together, away from the car, which was already on fire.

"It wasn't like you'd think. Sort of a loud bang and then more flames, but not some big explosion. And I didn't even really think I was that hurt. I didn't know."

Jeff Denberg of the AJC writes that minutes after the final home game of the month, Jason Terry issued a rather poignant plea to anyone who would listen that he not be traded away from the Hawks.

"Atlanta has become my home," he said. "The Hawks are my team. This is where I want to be for the rest of my career."

As today's 3 p.m. trade deadline approaches, Terry appears to have very little to worry about. Hawks vice president and general manager Pete Babcock has been steadfast in saying he does not want to trade Terry and sees little value in doing so.

"We like Jason as a player and as a person," Babcock said. "He's a high energy player. He's very enthusiastic. He's not perfect, but he makes things happen on the court."

One more reason not to trade him:

"He doesn't make enough money," Babcock added, dealing with one of the anomalies of the modern NBA game.

The midseason maneuvering has become one of trading contracts to deal with the salary cap and an impending luxury tax. With a $2.153 million contract this season and $2.933 million as a qualifier next season, Terry doesn't make enough money to allow his team to make a mega-deal trade.

Jeffrey Denberg of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: The clock is ticking and the Atlanta Hawks are struggling to find trade partners before Thursday's 3p.m. trade deadline.

Most teams either don't want Atlanta's long-term deals oro give up their young players/expiring contracts.

In this article, Denberg takes a look at some of Atlanta's trade options.

After Tuesday?s nights 116-113 loss to the visiting Golden State Warriors, Hawks coach Terry Stotts said that ?You probably saw the best and the worst of this team tonight.?

To be down so much to a team that has struggled on the road, and fight back, only to lose on a turnover when your team has the last possession doesn?t seem like the best and the worst.

It only feels like the worst.

Michael Lee of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: With the second half of the season about to start up and the trading deadline almost a week away, Hawks guard Jason Terry wants to stay an Atlanta Hawk.

"This is where I want to be," Terry said. "I started here. I'd love to retire here. I don't want to play six, seven years and then leave."

Terry will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, a decision he made after the Hawks gave him an offer last summer that was "not what I was worth," he said.

It is believed the Hawks' offer was around five years for $36 million. Terry's agent, Raymond Brothers, said it was slightly more, but not enough for a player who averaged more than 19 points the previous two seasons.

However, with all of the huge contracts that the Hawks have, it might be hard for them to give Terry a big deal without having to pay a heavy luxury tax penalty.

It is believed that Terry will be seeking a seven-year deal for about $60-80 million.