Report: Hawks' asking price for Horford, Teague 'borderline ridiculous'

Trade deadline season always brings its share of smokescreens.

The Atlanta Hawks have been the focus of intense trade speculation ever since it was reported that they'd be open to trading foundational pieces in center Al Horford, point guard Jeff Teague, and shooting guard Kyle Korver - all of whom were All-Stars a season ago.

But being open to trading someone and consummating a trade are two very different things, and the Hawks are reportedly driving an extremely hard bargain for Horford and Teague.

"From everything I've been told in the last two or three days, Atlanta's requests for both Al Horford and Jeff Teague have been borderline ridiculous," The Vertical's Chris Mannix told CSN on Thursday. "The kind of things teams like Boston, or Milwaukee, or Denver simply won't deal for the players they want."

The Hawks hit the All-Star break at a bit of a crossroads. They're fourth in the Eastern Conference at 31-24, having already lost more games than they did during their franchise-best 60-win season last year, and Horford is set to be an unrestricted free agent at season's end.

Given that uncertainty, any team that ponies up for Horford will have to feel confident in its ability to re-sign him in the summer.