ESPN Marc Stein: Rockets long known to be Josh Smith fans

I'll go on record as saying that I'd love to have Smith here. Living in Atlanta, I've watched him play a lot. Yes, he takes bonehead shots at times, but the positive far outweighs the negative. He's an ELITE defender who can also rebound and score the basketball. In addition, he's a very good fit for our system. Do I think he's worth the max? No, but he is worth a significant chunk of change. I would rather have Dwight, but I'd be happy if we got J Smoove as a consolation prize.

 

I think the Hawks will agree if the Rockets trade package included Terrence Jones.

 

I would not be opposed if the Rockets stance is do not trade Jones under any circumstances, but it may be the only way they can acquire Smith, so it is a difficult decision.

 

You know dwight is a freeagent in the offseason so why.would you trade for him when u can just offer a contract???? Duh! Plus we don't want him!

 

Both Utah (Millsap) and Atlanta (Smith) are expected to have a tremendous amount of cap room this summer, so a trade exception (which the team would need to waive in order to access its cap room in the first place) may be of little value to them.

 

You obviously have never heard of this thing called "Larry Bird Rights."

I would guestimate that the Rockets would probably have a 90%+ chance of resigning Dwight if they obtained him in trade before Thursday, and very little to no chance at all of signing him as a free agent because of these player rights.

Also, there is no consensus "WE" here. I personally am not a fan of the guy, and think he's a pretty big douche, but if you care about this team being relevant and a title contender for years to come, you should be able to look past the downside of his personality and whatever else you dont like about him.

 

im starting to think all of these posters with less 100 posts and which accounts were created in 2012 are all owned by Carl "Euro Lover" Herrerra

 

Wouldn't mind Josh Smith at all.

 

He was responding to the suggestion of doing a sign-and-trade in the offseason instead of trading for him at the deadline. An offseason S&T would not employ Howard's Bird Rights under the new CBA.

But, it's possible that a deadline trade for Smith would affect our offseason cap-space and make a S&T for Howard a necessity. But, that's one of those cases where you need to choose which guy is more important -- Smith or Howard -- because the chance of getting Howard on a S&T is pretty slim and more costly. If you really want Howard, you don't let a trade for Smith to get in the way. If you really want Smith, you take your chances on a Howard S&T.

 

Josh Smith is a low risk high reward type move. Probably don't need to give up much to get him. Other than his shooting, he fits what we need perfectly (defense/rebounding/run the break)

But is it worth giving up assets to rent him for 25 games? When you can just make him an offer this summer?

 

I say yes because you will get to see if he works in our system or not (Taste the milk before buying the cow) if he does not then you will have his salary off the books and could effectively have around 7 mil more in cap space for free agents. If he does work then you tell him you are not paying him the max, sign your big free agent and offer him what is left. Probably be around his current salary which is reasonable.

 

I hope some other team would trade for Josh Smith already so i can breathe a sigh of relief.

 

With a TE good for one year would it not have a value after repopulating their rosters?

 

No because you need to waive it.

 

Only if the team holding the trade exception does not opt to use its cap room.

For cap purposes, the amounts of all trade exceptions (and other cap exceptions, such as the MLE, BAE, etc.) are added to "team salary" for purposes of determining whether a team is under the cap.

In order to GET under the cap, the team must WAIVE all of these exceptions. (However, if a team is just under the cap, it is entitled to use the "Room" Exception, which is around $2.5 - $3 million.)

 

If he (or Dwight Howard) gets traded, and it's not to us, we can forget about picking him up in the offseason. The new incumbent team is going to re-sign him. They'd be motivated to keep him since they traded for him, and can offer him more than anybody else. The only scenario where we can just pick him up in the offseason is if Atlanta (or the Lakers) don't trade him and let him expire in the offseason. Which seems unlikely.

If Smith (or Howard) is just a fallback position or a nice-to-have, we should just wait and see what happens while we pursue our first choice. But, if that's the guy Morey wants and it looks like he's going to get traded (which it does), we should make sure to get him now or risk losing him forever.

 

D-Mo is physically weak, but he is talented.
He may be able to pan out for us, in the long run.
I do not want to give him up for Smith, or give Smith the max.

 

Thanks for the edification. You edify me!

 

I dont understand this myth that Smith is a great rebounder, very skilled, or excellent defender. His primary attribute is his athleticism, and when that declines in a couple years, it will not be pretty

 

Myth? You don't average 17.4/8.6/4.1/1.2stl/2.1blk 46%/35.4% 3pt on myths.

He's only 27 years old. People don't lose their athleticism until 33+.