Josh Smith Anyone?

Nope.

First Al Jefferson now Smith?

You sure you aren't the Suns GM?

 

For less than $11m, sure. Anything more and we're overpaying.

 

no. JSmooth is just a fair-weather shiny player who will get overpaid for that. Hopefully not by the Rockets.

 

I really dislike Josh Smith. He would improve our defense, but his poor shot selection/decision making kills Atlanta in a lot of games. Also, his attitude is pretty rotten too. If he was an $8 million a year guy, then I would be all over it, but he'll likely be demanding about $14 to 15 million.

 

Unstick yourself and learn to be patient. Get Gasol for almost nothing for one season and then you have 2014 to give it another go.

You don't just blow your cap space "just because".

 

Is it bad if I'm essentially copy/pasting myself from another thread?

I've said before that while JSmoove is not my #1 option, at the right price, he can make our team a darkhorse contender. Not an obvious contender like D12 or CP3 (or better yet, CP3 + D12 ) could, but at least a very solid at WCF every yr.

Smith is a great B+ player in a lot of ways. He fits our team. He can run, finish on the fast break, and has a VERY high percentage at the rim. More importantly, our gaping hole is in our defense. Smith can guard the 3 and the 4 very, very well as an almost elite defender. He contributes great weak side blocking, too.

His ability to stretch the floor is actually pretty good. While his season 3 pt avg. from 3 is not great (31%), it isn't terrible either. More importantly, he actually shoots 38% from the right wing, so that's notable. Also important is his ability to drive the ball and kick it out. He is a willing and able passer who can draw the defense in and kick out to the perimeter, something our offense is built on (along with the run and gun that he's so physically built for).

JSmoove also has a decent post game, which is something we lack right now (outside of DMo, but he can't defend or rebound well enough to warrant his offensive contribution), and we need to develop it to have different strategies in the playoffs, where having a halfcourt game becomes much more crucial.

Defense also matters a lot more in the playoffs, and offense is not why I would get JSmoove for. We already were #2 in scoring in the league, and #5 in offensive efficiency. I'm not worried about our offense, although JSmoove would definitely help there (see above: post game, fast break, athleticism, finishing at the rim). It is defense that he really helps us.

Most if not all championship teams in the last few decades have not won without a top-notch defensive wing/perimeter player. JSmoove can do that for us in crunch time. He also brings versatility to our lineup. We could play him at the 3 when we need him on a certain player, and throw DMo at the 4 to stretch the floor, or have JSmoove at the floor w/ Parsons for a better transition game, etc. LOTS of possibilities.

His downsides are his boneheaded plays and inefficient shots. These problems are somewhat mitigated purely by the fact that, unlike at ATL, he will undoubtedly get fewer touches in HTown. This would limit the problem almost right away. At 28, could he learn our system of standing outside of 22 ft and going beyond the arc? That's questionable and something to worry about, but again, at least he gets fewer touches, and his prime use is not on offense but defense. I won't pretend like some and say he will learn to take better shots in our system (though I actually do think this is true) because he is 28 after all...hard to teach an old dog new tricks. So instead I will harp on the fact that he will get fewer touches to be inefficient with

All in all, for the right price (<$14M), I would be happy with a JSmoove signing, though not ecstatic. He has problems, but is not the black mark that some people make him out to be, as he fits very well with our team's offense and needs on defense. Whether he agrees to $14M or not, who knows. He has said he thinks he is a max player, but also said he's willing to negotiate for less. He has also said he would like to play for Houston. /shrugs

It would also leave us with enough money to keep Delfino or sign another impact player (maybe OJ Mayo if we move a contract around).

 

Or we wait and see if LMA or Love becomes available the follow year. They're the upper tier PF's in the league IMO and I think its worth to try and pry them off their teams when they're on their last year of their contracts than overpaying for a second/third tier of PF's.

 

I think we go after Pau Gasol for his one year rental. Then next year we go after Love

 

I really don't want to help the Lakers out but if it benefits our future, guess it will work. We can probably get to resign on a cheaper deal in 2014 while going for the upper tier PF's.

What do the Lakers want for Pau though?

 

I think Golden State would be a better fit for Smith. I also just don't want to pay Smith the money he'll warrant.

 

A couple of second rounders, maybe one of the young Power forwards.

 

Locking up a majority of your cap space in players like Josh Smith and Al Jefferson is how teams destroy their futures.

 

I would rather use our expiring asset (our cap space) than our increasingly valuable assets (our young, core players like Parsons). Love and LMA aren't getting moved to Houston unless we give up a major piece. No reason for them too -- there will be better teams out there able to offer a lot more.

 

I love his athleticism. I love his defense. Decision making is questionable.

He would be my first option. Even if we overpaid a little. Of course I would love to get me some Kevin Love but I'll Smith if we can get him and move on.

 

Guess this is where you and I are different when it comes to risk/return.

I don't feel comfortable using majority of the cap space on possible Tier 2/3 players (IMO), when I know there's a tier 1 player out there. If LMA/Love becomes available, no body but Harden is safe on this team. If either Love/Aldridge becomes disgruntled, a couple of draft picks will do it for them since the teams would rather get something than nothing. However, I guess if I want to use the available cap space now, a 1 year rental for Pau might be the best move we could make (assuming Paul and Howard doesn't sign with us).

Also we have to keep in mind that Parsons contract is up in 2015 and there's going to be tons of teams waiting to give him a huge pay raise so I'd cash in on him for a tier 1 player before his contract expires. Unless we think he's worthy of the money the market set out for him.

Curious to know which teams you are mentioning in that last sentence. Lakers?

 

We need a PF who is a solid defender and rebounder and has a solid mid range game. Unfortunately those qualities make the PF a star and teams aren't giving away star pfs.