<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Source close to situation says "60 percent" chance ATL trades Josh Smith b4 deadline. Brooklyn one of several teams interested.</p>— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/status/300023801016627200">February 8, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Source close to situation says "60 percent" chance ATL trades Josh Smith b4 deadline. Brooklyn one of several teams interested.</p>— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/status/300023801016627200">February 8, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I am not a Smith to Houston guy, but I will play devils advocate here. Houston has been exceptional offensively and pretty bad defensively this year. Smith is without a doubt a great defensive player and an upgrade defensively to Patterson. An Asik/Smith front line would be a very intimidating duo defensively. Offensively you are sacraficing Pattersons midrange and 3 point shooting but you are gaining a great finisher around the rim and likely adding possessions due to better rebounding/defense. And there is always the possibility Smith decides to actually commit to smart basketball and stops taking low effecient shots. Maybe he is mailing it in, in Atlanta, maybe not, but a change of scenery MIGHT help out. Furthermore, Smith is a name, like Harden. Once we got a name we became a destination and adding another name makes us even more of a destination, so thats an added benefit. People keep talking about cap space cap space cap space, but then **** on anyone who is available with it. Don't like Smith, don't want Milsap, don't want Howard. You have to use your cap space on someone and Lebron ain't coming here. If you dump Lin and Pattersons salary in a Smith deal, I think your shot at Dwight Howard goes up tremendously. You would have to make a follow up move to basically give away Asik in the offseason, but you could essentially build a super team. Again, I am not necessarily for this, but there is upside here.
Can we have Horford instead? I like Smith's game. I like it a lot actually...even with some of his shortcomings. With that said.... He's perfect as a legit 3rd option player when you have an established post presence and a stud wing. If you could have Smith as a 3rd option while paying him around $10M per season he'd be the perfect piece to a Championship puzzle. Think back when we had Yao/Mac if we could've had Josh Smith at that time as a 3rd option he would've been perfect. Paying him max money or even somewhere close to that to be a #2 option just doesn't make sense unless you want to be stuck in mediocrity. I'd pass on Smith and try to hit the jackpot by finding the next Kenneth Faried or Paul Millsap before he got paid or Jason Maxiell from a few years ago or Carl Landry before he got paid. Smith brings a lot of things to the table and he's a rare talent but they're not worthy of max money at age 27.
I'd be okay with Smith's talent but he's likely to fade in 3 years and has deluded himself into thinking he's worth max money.
Not a max contract guy, but would be an instant impact on defense. Yes, he takes I'll advised long range 2s, but he was also the go-to-guy in ATL. Harden is that guy here. It's a low risk move with him having an expiring contract. F anything, we will have more cap room if we choose not to resign him. He would be worth the rental if anything.
How high can his market value be? He's a free agent this summer, so there shouldn't be a bidding war for his services, nor will he mess up our cap. His bird rights alone could come in handy.
I think people here undervalue defense. It is hard to find great defensive players that actually have a pretty good offensive game. And his offensive deficiencies are a little overnblown - he tries to be the man and takes contested shots he has no business of taking. But if you have a player like Harden on the team and great shooters all around you, you might think about passing more and going for offensive rebounds. And don't forget, McHale is best in teaching big men. Let him add a great post move, take away his contested jumpers and he is a great second option for this team.
Part of me says go for it; dude is excellent at blocking shots and rebounding. He's athletic and can run, and can you imagine all the dunks he'd be getting with us? He'd fit in great defensively. The other part of me is hoping we don't. I'd worry about his suspect jumpshooting, as well as his personality to a certain extent. I don't want to give up too much for him. I'd rather wait and see if we could nab Howard first, and see if Smith would consider signing for less. Could a Harden-Smith-Howard trio (with help from Lin and Bang) trump Miami?
Not at the top of my list and I don't think he's an elite player, BUT Harden is so d@mn good that this could be a contending team with Smith. He's an excellent rim defender which would instantly make the Rockets a better defensive team and he could be a consistent 2nd scoring option. So the team would get better defensively and offensively. Harden just needs some help of any kind... So I wouldn't complain if we got him.
Sources next to Chris Broussard say the sources of Chris Broussard's rumors are the same sources which source his flatulence.
Someone out there will be willing to give him a max contract, and once he gets that max contract, he will be widely recognized as one of the league's 5-10 most untradeable contracts within twelve months. Daryl Morey realizes this and is not going to go after Josh Smith. However, as I've pointed out in other posts, I can see Morey maybe getting involved here to "facilitate" the trade, wherein he picks up a valuable asset for next to nothing. For example: Josh Smith traded from Atlanta to Mystery Team; Mystery Player from Mystery Team to Atlanta; Patrick Patterson, either Marcus Morris or Terrence Jones, and one or more expiring contracts (e.g., Toney Douglas, Cole Aldrich) to Atlanta. In other words, Atlanta may want what Houston is peddling more than what Mystery Team is peddling, and Houston may want what Mystery Team is peddling more than Josh Smith. I'd say that Atlanta almost certainly would like to get back a prospects/picks/expiring contracts so as to preserve/maximize 2013-14 cap space. For example: Josh Smith and filler (Anthony Tolliver) to Phoenix Marcin Gortat and filler (Sebastian Telfair) to Houston Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, and an expiring contract (Wesley Johnson) to Atlanta Another example: Josh Smith and an expiring contract (Johan Petro) to Milwaukee Ersan Ilyasova and filler (Anthony Tolliver) to Houston Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, and an expiring contract (Beno Udrih) to Milwaukee A team looking to accumulate cheap young guys with perceived upside and maximize 2013-14 cap space would presumably be more interested in Patterson and Morris, or maybe Patterson and Donatas Motiejunas, than they'd be in a relatively expensive veteran such as Gortat or Ilyasova. So I can see something like this happening, but no, I cannot see Morey trading for Josh Smith.
Well, that settles it JS ain't going to Brooklyn.:grin: I would trade anyone except Asik, Parsons, Lin or Harden for Josh Smith & either our 1st round draft pick or take the protection off it. The draft pick increases our flexibility and Smith's defence make him worth a half season rental to see if a change of scenery helps his performance.
