Would you take on Joe Johnson's bad contract if we got Smith as well?

I think it's the fact that he's the 10th highest paid NBA player, has bad knees, and is signed through 2016 (when he'll be 35) that is giving folks pause. He basically almost takes up a quarter of your payroll. IMHO, no accompanying player is worth eating Johnson's **** contract. Yes you can be competitive with Johnson and Horford or Johnson and Smith, but you are never gonna get to the promise land. You just can't have that much of your salary tied up in a player who is not an all-star (or an elite player for that matter).

 

Al Horford? Yeah good luck with that.

 

Short term- maybe but not contenders. Long term- terrible move. JJ will getting 24 mil when he's 35 and we can't even amnesty that off our salary cap! I just don't think you realize how terrible of a contract it is.

 

We've seen what Johnson and Smith can do as the lead players of a team already, which is a mid-level team in the East...and that is with Al Horford. I can't see those 2 coming here and doing much better. I like Smith as a 2nd or 3rd best player on a squad, but I'll pass on Johnson's contract.

 

Because he's an awful basketball player. He has loads of natural talent but no brains between his ears. And when you consider his age, he isn't getting any better. The whole reason Josh Smith has been drooled over for so long is because of his potential - potential he will clearly never realize. Why people here are still obsessed with him is beyond me. If you really think Josh Smith is going to be a superstar than I'm pretty sure I'm not the clown here.

 

Do you not watch the Rockets... or have you been sleepwalking the entire season


Josh Smith is 10x times better than anybody on our team right NOW.

And yes i would take Josh Smith and Joe Johnson. I would amnesty Joe Johnson, and sign James Harden

 

O.....k.....

Or you could actually look at his numbers before making a claim. He's been fantastic. There is no debating that.

 

20 mil a year is really horrendous. I don't know too much about the guy but that will cripple us financially for some time. He is also about 30 years old. That is a bit too much.

What was Atlanta's GM thinking???

 

Especially when that contract came on the heels of him becoming persona non grata in Atlanta when he stunk up the playoffs and dissed the fans for good measure.

 

It's OK

 

I'm not going to lie - I have had a great deal of trouble watching basketball this season. Between the lockout, the crappy schedule that has players playing sloppy basketball because they're exhausted and our mediocre at best squad, it's been brutal for me. I can't recall if I've even seen Smith play this season. But I've watched him plenty in the past and while he is undoubtedly an incredible athlete, I've never been impressed by his players like him who put up gaudy numbers one night and then are completely lackluster the next. He's already been in the league for around 8 or so years so I'd be shocked if he's turned the corner this season.

As for the numbers, Shareef Abdur Rahim put up great numbers. Stephon Marbury put up great numbers. The Milwaukee Bucks alone have had countless examples of players who put up impressive numbers on mediocre to bad teams but never helped anybody win anything. Unless Josh Smith has had a really miraculous turnaround this season, I'd consider him a less impressive player than the Glenn Robinson's and Shareef Abdur Rahims of the past. And those aren't exactly guys anyone wants to build around in hindsight.

Is he better than a great many of our players? Probably. But do we need to make slight upgrades to this squad? Not in my opinion. This squad needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. I'd rather not tie up cap room in a guy whose natural talent makes him an adequate, maybe even above average starter, but who can't help us get anywhere - and when you factor in the idea of taking on Joe Johnson's contract for this slight upgrade? I think it's nothing short of absurd.