Rockets among teams that Josh Smith finds appealling

Harden and Josh Smith you have to like that..lets not forget Smith is also a playmaker

 

I dunno, I am pretty strong on the idea of Chandler Parsons at the 3, and Ryan Anderson at the 4 would kind of mess with that. Anderson is a better shooter but he would crowd the wing. I would honestly rather have Josh Smith at the 4. We don't need to score more points. We'd be better off with a player that can help us lower opposing teams PPG and FG%. Josh Smith would help with that.

 

We need some shot-blocking, too. Asik is a great rebounder, but not that great a shot-blocker. And Patterson and Morris hardly ever block anything (except themselves at the rim). Smith could cover that.

 

For a moment, I read "appealling" as "appalling". LOL

 

Sign Josh Smith then SnT Dwight Howard for any combination of Asik, 2Pat, Morris, White and TJones.

Get them on the same team. Dwight and Josh are childhood friends and it would be great to see them play together again. :grin:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_magic/2010/03/q-a-josh-smith-talks-about-his-friendship-with-dwight-howard.html

 

That sounds like a terrible idea. Transplanting 2 emotionally immature (pseudo) stars onto a young team won't end well.

 

Together, they could be the worst free throw shooting, starting front line combo in the history of the NBA.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. But just think about the potential, the alley oops, the highlights and the defense! :grin:

 

Haha. They really need to work on that. But maybe when they play together, they get into a friendly competition on who's the better free throw shooter.

 

Lin to Smith lob city

 

Spoiler

 

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2013/01/11/20130110-josh-smith.nba

Nice little video of J.Smith talking about defense...really interesting.

 

Lakers can't sign and trade Howard since they are over the luxury tax line. So, if Howard leaves LA, it will be as a true free agent.

 

Danny Ferry stated he would only take a star-caliber player back in return for trade of Josh Smith. Whom do we have other than Harden that the Hawks would want?

 

Dudes an allstar. He will most likely finally get the nod this year.
I know we all question his offense, at least as far as his shot selection goes, but the man plays hard. He rebounds, hustles down the floor, and is a hell of a shot blocker. He can catch the lobs tha Lin and Harden send Asiks way and throw them down with force. He is a power forward and he certainly has POWER, something we seem to lack in our bigs.

Make the trade and let him mesh with our core. I think a legend like McHale can certainly rein him in and teach him a thing or two. And Hakeem in the off season. Smith looks to be tired of the stagnation in Atlanta, and I think he wants to finally start winning. Houston is his best chance.

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8856793/nba-josh-smith-trade-scenarios-atlanta-hawks

can someone post this article? thank you

 

This is the rockets part:


Houston Rockets
Cole Aldrich, Carlos Delfino, Marcus Morris and picks to Atlanta; Smith to Houston.

(View the deal in ESPN.com's Trade Machine.)

Put my money on Houston as Smith's eventual destination. The Rockets could save Atlanta money by using their $6.7 million in cap space to take on more salary than they send back, and they have plenty of intriguing young pieces. For cap purposes, the Hawks would probably have to choose between Morris and Patrick Patterson as a Smith replacement, with the possibility of adding in draft picks.

From Houston's perspective, Smith would be a good fit for a team that is missing only an athletic power forward in its starting lineup of the future. The Rockets can offer him a chance to play with a talented frontcourt and potentially contend in the Western Conference as their young talent develops. This just makes too much sense for both sides.

 

Out of the players who have either been confirmed or are believed to be avalable for trade by the deadline (Smith, Bargnani, Gay, Milsap and Jefferson) Smith makes the most sense. He becomes an upgrade at our weakest position while offering a solid second scoring option with the ability to score both inside and outside and on the break. Defensively he can rebound and most importantly give us a major shot blocking presence to go along with Asik who is our best shotblocker as an above average shot blocker.

Now the real question is what it takes to bring him over here. Harden is untouchable and I don't envision the Rockets wanting to part with Parsons, Lin or Asik. That would lead me to believe that any combination of everyone else plus a 1st round pick would be what the Rockets would offer.

Now according to Alethios, Atlanta would want a returning player near the level of Smith and outside of Harden (who is better but would never be moved in this deal) we couldn't satisfy Atlanta's demands. Things can change as we get closer to the deadline, but one thing that is for sure is that unless other names come out as being avalable Smith is the guy who makes the most sense for this team and can help in both the short term and long term.

 

Commentary
Where can Hawks ship Josh Smith?
Updated: January 18, 2013, 12:47 PM ET
By Kevin Pelton | ESPN Insider

This looks like the end of the line for Josh Smith in Atlanta. The Hawks forward, who is in the final season of his contract, was suspended for Wednesday's win over the Brooklyn Nets due to the euphemistic "conduct detrimental to the team."

While a meeting between Smith's agent and GM Danny Ferry did not result in a trade request, it still looks like a divorce would be best for both player and team, which snapped a stretch of six losses in seven games by beating Brooklyn without Smith. And that means an opportunity for the rest of the league.

The downside of trading Smith now is that he's at the floor of his value. Instead of making a push in his contract year, Smith has seen his numbers drop across the board this season, which is shaping up as his worst since at least 2008-09. In part, the issues might stem from coach Larry Drew using Smith at small forward more than he has in years. While Smith's athleticism may lend itself to a perimeter role, and 82games.com shows Atlanta playing better as a team with him at small forward, the position takes Smith away from his strengths. His rebounding naturally declines from the perimeter.

Beyond that, Smith has suffered through a bit of a shooting slump. This shows up in his accuracy on long 2-pointers (down from 37 percent to 27 percent, per Hoopdata.com) and at the free throw line, where Smith is inexplicably shooting a career-worst 51.4 percent. If Smith were making free throws at his career rate (66.2 percent), he would have scored another 20 points -- enough to add 0.6 points per game to his scoring average.

There's no reason to believe that Smith's game is truly in decline. Besides rebounding, he remains strong in the other stats that demonstrate athleticism, including steals, blocks (swatting shots at his best rate in five seasons) and shot attempts at the rim. Beyond that, Smith is just 27, an age at which players should be peaking.

He entered the NBA out of high school, so Smith will be exceptionally young for a star-caliber player reaching the market as an unrestricted free agent. As a result, he should be able to hold his value over the life of his next contract. Over the next three seasons, the players my SCHOENE projection system found most similar to Smith produced more than 24 wins above replacement player, a figure that would sneak him into the league's 20 projected most valuable players over that span.

The opportunity to trade for a player with Smith's talent, potentially at a reduced rate, is a unique one. So too are the challenges to the deal, and that's without even getting into Smith's troubled reputation in the locker room. After trading Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams last summer to clear up the Hawks' books, Ferry is unlikely to blow the cap space -- more than enough to make a max offer -- on middling players. Atlanta either has to get real value for Smith or expiring contracts that won't affect the team going forward.

At the same time, any team that deals for Smith takes the chance of him walking in free agency this summer, so rival GMs must weigh how much they're willing to give up for a player who might be a rental. Whoever deals for Smith should have the upper hand in re-signing him because they can offer an additional year and larger raises on his next contract, but that would take them out of the running for other free agents.

Ultimately, the best fit looks like a team that is in contention now, could stand to upgrade by adding Smith, has cap space coming next summer and might not be able to sign anyone better than Smith. Let's take a look at a few candidates and possible trades.

Boston Celtics

Jeff Green and Courtney Lee to Atlanta; Smith to Boston.

Celtics fans would love to add Smith to their lineup, but it's difficult to see the Hawks front office being equally excited unless Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo is involved. Boston doesn't have a true expiring contract on the roster (Pierce's partially guaranteed deal comes closest), and Atlanta likely isn't interested in Green's exorbitant deal.

Dallas Mavericks

Rodrigue Beaubois, Chris Kaman and picks to Atlanta; Smith to Dallas.

Dallas has the requisite expiring contracts to make a run at Smith and could add some young talent and draft picks to sweeten the pot for the Hawks. Still, the Mavericks don't feel like a match for Smith, who would have to play small forward in Dallas as long as Dirk Nowitzki is around. Besides, Mark Cuban may still be holding out hope of signing Dwight Howard in free agency, so the Bank of Cuban would probably turn down this offer.

Houston Rockets

Cole Aldrich, Carlos Delfino, Marcus Morris and picks to Atlanta; Smith to Houston.

Put my money on Houston as Smith's eventual destination. The Rockets could save Atlanta money by using their $6.7 million in cap space to take on more salary than they send back, and they have plenty of intriguing young pieces. For cap purposes, the Hawks would probably have to choose between Morris and Patrick Patterson as a Smith replacement, with the possibility of adding in draft picks.

From Houston's perspective, Smith would be a good fit for a team that is missing only an athletic power forward in its starting lineup of the future. The Rockets can offer him a chance to play with a talented frontcourt and potentially contend in the Western Conference as their young talent develops. This just makes too much sense for both sides.

Los Angeles Lakers/Minnesota Timberwolves

Nikola Pekovic, Brandon Roy and Derrick Williams to Atlanta; Pau Gasol to Minnesota; Smith to L.A.

Smith would also fit nicely in the Lakers' starting five as a more athletic option alongside Dwight Howard. The problem is Gasol's high salary would eat up Atlanta's cap space, and adding a 32-year-old player on the decline doesn't fit with the Hawks' timetable. So the only way Atlanta and L.A. could make a deal is with a third partner. The Timberwolves make the most sense, though they probably would not be willing to get older in the middle and add salary during what looks like a lost season due to injuries. Minnesota probably says no to a deal Ferry might make.

New Orleans Hornets

Al-Farouq Aminu and Ryan Anderson to Atlanta; Smith to New Orleans.

The Hornets don't really fit any of the ideal criteria; they are going nowhere, have few expiring contracts and are building around youngsters Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon. So why make this trade? Because Smith can play small forward next to Davis at times, which is more difficult for the slow-footed Anderson. Meanwhile, the Hawks might be willing to use their cap space on Anderson, who has demonstrated this season he can thrive without Howard. Consider New Orleans an intriguing long shot.

Orlando Magic

Josh McRoberts and J.J. Redick to Atlanta; Smith to Orlando.

Orlando is another rebuilding team that might be tempted by the opportunity to add a talent like Smith. The Magic could make a deal work with the expiring contracts of McRoberts and Redick, who could be valuable to Atlanta in a larger deal that flips him to another team. How about Denver for Jordan Hamilton and Timofey Mozgov (Trade Machine)? The Hawks would need to get some picks or another young player (Andrew Nicholson, perhaps?), but that could prove workable for all sides.

Toronto Raptors

Jose Calderon and Ed Davis to Atlanta; Smith to Toronto.

If the Raptors were willing to offer a package of Calderon (expiring) and Davis for Rudy Gay, as our Marc Stein reported last week, would they do the same for Smith? That would have to tempt the Hawks, who would get a young power forward coming into his own without affecting their cap situation much going forward. But Toronto would probably consider that too much to give up for a player who might bolt for a warmer locale.

 

I don't think the Rockets will trade Delfino. He is too important of a player, but they may trade Greg Smith if that would accomplish the deal. Josh Smith can play backup center, so can D-Mo and even T-Jones in the future. I don't want to lose Greg Smith, but that may be what it takes. The ideal trade would be Aldrich, Patterson & Morris.