Those Pape Sy Buyout Discussions May Be Real

I chose not to write about this report about the Atlanta Hawks negotiating to buy out the final year of Pape Sy's contract with Le Havre that appeared over the weekend due to my own ignorance of the source, the limitations of Google translator, and a previous piece I'd read there about Sy which opened with a factual error obvious even given my limited French.

Michael Cunningham's latest blog post gives credence to the report though it's still probably unlikely to occur:

Back when the Hawks drafted Pape Sy and brought him to Summer League, assistant GM Dave Pendergraft said there was “no chance” the team would buy out Sy’s contract with Le Havre of the top French League. Over the weekend Pendergraft upgraded that to a “slight chance” Sy will join the Hawks this fall.

On the one hand, Sy appears a long shot to succeed in the NBA. On the other hand, he would presumably be brought over to defend on the wing* which could shore up a real weakness of the team and scouring the benches of the French league for players exhibits a level of creativity rarely associated with the franchise's player personnel decisions.

*Despite my overall reservations regarding Sy given his age, statistical record, and limited playing time in Summer League, I've no real knowledge of his aptitude with regard to this particular skill and no reason to believe he couldn't clear the admittedly low bar set by Mario West.