This move could definitely make them one of the up-and-coming teams along with Portland. 1 - Conley/Lowry 2 - Mayo/Crittenton/Jaric 3 - Rudy Gay/Walker 4 - Smith/Arthur/Warrick 5 - Gasol/Milicic/Hadadi That's a lot of potential right there...
The Hawks will match. That isn't even an unreasonable contract for a promising 22 year old who has improved statistically every year and put up solid numbers last year. I was thinking he might even manage a max deal based on potential alone.
Fully agree - actually, as crazy as it sounds, matching this sounds like a bargain compared to some other crazy deals (Luol Deng, Erick Dampier, etc. etc....).
Whatever happened to Memphis X? He was completely delusional regarding his team and the Rockets, but it's always nice having other fanbases stop by.
yeah, he's not the perfect fit for us...because he sucks. I had the kid on my fantasy team last year, he's as soft as peja -- maybe even worse. he has 1 relatively solid game, then disappears for the next 5. he's also prone to missing weeks at a time due to a pinky injury. nevermind the fact that scola and landry are arguably both superior players.
I think Atlanta begged Memphis to make such an offer so they could match. This is an excellent value signing for Atl to match. This is less (to substantially less) than what Deng, Jamison, Okafor, Biedrens and Brand got--and personally Josh Smith at 22 years of age is worth more/has more upside than any of them. In fact this is barely more than Corey Maggette got. If Memphis was serious about trying to get Smith they needed to offer a full max contract (5 years over 70 mil), front loaded if possible. Like what Atlanta did to push Phx into trading Joe Johnson. I'd be surprised if Atlanta waits past today to match, unless it is to build drama in their fan based while Memphis fans buy their own tickets. Maybe it is all a big PR thing between Memphis and Atl--to show both groups of fans they appear interested in making a good product. This is just too much of a no-chancer. On the plus side it is a potential suiter of Landry off the table for maybe up to 1 week.
Hayes is more productive than Darko. Also, i don't see why the Griz would be so anxious do this. They just gave away a better player in Pau and are now willing to pay Josh Smith. I thought they were waiting for the big boys in 2010.
So, they are capped out again? I guess if all their high picks, plus Smith and Marc Gasol, get better and stick around, they have a chance to be good. But I don't see them winning anything next season even with Smith. I also don't know they have that high of a chance get back up to the 50-ish win level they were at with Pau, Battier and Miller even in 2-3 years.
A combo forward who put up 17 8 3 3 (including blocks, 2nd in the league), and at 22 years old is on a major upward, is a big boy.
Lebron, D-wade, Bosh, Dirk, Amare, Tmac, Ginobli, Boozer = Big boys Josh Smith may or may not be on that level by then but he is not now and there is no guarantee he will be later. He doesn't look like a future superstar/best player on a great team kind of guy to me. I think he's a good player but those stats seem skewed because he plays for the hawks.
Are you on crack? They potentially could go to the NBA Finals if they sign Lebron James. That's about it.
