Smith will get more than 8-9 million a year. He will more likely get around 12-14. SH** maybe even a little more because there are teams out there who will over spend on a player.
Ive heard rumors saying that as well. Howard and Smith are best friends Fair,,so who knows, it might just happen. You really don't think CP3 would fit great with Harden and Howard or Harden and Smith?
CP3 is a great, great player. top 5 in the nba. But his skills (much like Lin's) are redundant with James Harden. CP3 can play in any offense, but Harden was a top 5 PNR ballhandler last season, and Lin was in the top 10. Why would you take away from such efficient scorers/facilitators when our offense is based on the screengame? It seems like a misappropriation of resources. I don't even think cp3 is on Morey's radar, unless cp3 was an absolute requirement for signing Dwight Howard, which I would bet is not the case.
Posted this in the other thread but if Howard was signed would you be happy with a Asik and Lin package for Josh Smith? FA/Beverly Harden Parsons Smith Howard That would be an entertaining and likely successful starting lineup.
CP3 is a great player, no doubt. Just worry about how he plays with a ball dominant Harden. From all accounts he has a dominating personality on a team and would probably force Harden off the ball. Not sure if Harden would be as effective being set up by CP3. So, what CP3 brings may in some aspects be detrimental to the team and not worth the max. Both his play style and personality may not fit this team.
I don't think I made it clear in my first post of the thread, but I also got word a few days ago that Smith was a very real focus of the Rockets' offseason plan. As priority #3, not #2, but yeah - realistically I'm not sure Paul is available. And for the newer guys, no, I'm not a regular source for insider info. Just got lucky with this one. Again, personally, I have no interest in the guy. Not long-term. Would even prefer a Gasol rental or just paying a mediocre PF the max for a year (or a 1-and-1 team option).
Smith is solid and would improve us, but a 1-2 punch of Harden and Smith sounds like a copy of the Brooklyn Nets. Hard to imagine beating any of the elite teams with that. Asik + (Jones or DMo) for Smith makes a lot of sense if we can get Howard. Having 2 poor FT shooters is not much worse than having two, since only one guy gets fouled at a time. An intentional foul on a 60% FT shooter is a losing strategy in the long run. So if JSmoove and Dwight could get to that, we'd be ok.
It was ridiculous. Everyone said they were going to be trapped with that contract. Everyone was saying that he was not worth the max..but multiple teams were willing to take that risk so Atlanta had to. They got bailed out by the nets.
Dig and Fair, ya'll do know that they can take turns bringing up the ball. They could very well play off each other. Just like Wade and Lebron or even Durant and Westbrook. You bring in a CP3 and you dont have to run a lot of ISO for Harden. CP3 is a clutch player with a lot of tenacity and heart. Lets look at Harden's performance in the playoff's. His PNR went down big time. Why!!! because he had nothing left in the tank. Dont get me wrong here,,I understand what y'all are saying. But look at the entire picture if you may. But hey I dont see CP3 coming here...
You guys are thinking about the second contract, which is not what I am talking about. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2120960
In Joe Johnson's best season he averaged 25 points off 20 shots in 41 minutes. He averaged 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He got to the line a 5.5 times a game. 1.2 steals. Compare that to Harden's first season as a starter. 38 minutes. 25.9 points off 17 shots. 4.9 rebounds. 5.8 assists. 1.8 steals. 10.2 free throw attempts. Harden is by far the better player. Johnson never went on to average 22 or more a game for the rest of his career. Johnson was a fringe max player at the time, still very good. This was Johnson's fourth season as a full 40 minute player.
Josh Smith is the backup plan to Chris Paul IMO. I don't think we would go for Smith unless we already had Dwight. Dwight Smith Parsons Harden Lin is pretty strong if we can afford it. Parsons would really need to maintain his outside shot improvements to make sure we have enough spacing around the perimeter.
Never made first team or second team all-defensive. Needless to say, I don't think Josh Smith alone is the right move. I think it makes us a fifth seed just like the Hawks were but still the better team because we are in the West.
Joe Johnson never took the Hawks to the east finals. He was the most over paid player in NBA history. He's good, but not great. He's not a first option, franchise player to build around. The Hawks were idiots giving him that ridiculous contract.
