SB Nation Atlanta - Will The Atlanta Hawks Trade Josh Smith After Locking Up Al Horford?https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2010-11-04T10:34:09-04:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/15523312010-11-04T10:34:09-04:002010-11-04T10:34:09-04:00The Cyber Josh Smith Trades Begin: Atlanta Hawks' Smith To Phoenix Suns In A Three-Way Deal
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ubtDnr9CNr48rmmnIJm0Y9_2y-Q=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828099/large_atlanta.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well, it didn’t take very long for the blogosphere to pounce on the <span>Josh Smith</span> to the fill-in-the-blank NBA team and generate their own trade offers for the not-quite-on-the-market <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/">Atlanta Hawks</a> power forward.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the first "offers" comes from <a href="http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2010/7/17/1574392/lets-make-a-dream-err-deal-josh">our SB Nation sister site "Bright Side of the Sun."</a><span> </span>They proposed a three-way deal with either the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/">Golden State Warriors</a> or the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/new-jersey-nets">New Jersey Nets</a> that would reunite J-Smoove with his good buddy <span>Josh Childress</span>.<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Under the proposal, Smith would head to the Valley of the Sun, <span>Jason Richardson</span> would go to the Warriors along with <span>Earl Clark</span> and Atlanta would get PG <span>Monta Ellis</span>. Or Richardson would go toil in beautiful downtown Newark for a while with <span>Devin Harris</span> and Clark coming here.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It seems like our friends in always sunny Phoenix may have spent too much time avoiding Snooki’s Obama "tan tax" and may have overexposed themselves in the sun.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Atlanta allegedly needs a point guard to replace <span>Mike Bibby</span> who is a "terrible" lead guard. <span> </span>Granted Bibby’s numbers are not spectacular, but he doesn’t turn over the basketball and fills the role the Hawks need him to on this team.<span> </span>His 9.5 assist-to-turnover ratio is the best in the league right now.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Keep in mind that Bibby is under contract for just two more seasons and is looked at as the bridge to <span>Jeff Teague</span>.<span> </span>Even assuming the premise that Bibby is indeed "terrible," neither deal addresses the Hawks' luxury tax issues.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Proposal 1: Hawks get Ellis</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There’s no denying that Ellis is a talented point guard.<span> </span>He leads the league with an average of 30 points per game thus far this season, which begs the question, do the hapless Warriors want to trade away their best player?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even assuming that they do, this deal would be like rearranging the chairs on the deck of the financial titanic for the Hawks.<span> </span>Both Ellis and Smith are under contract for the next two years and Atlanta would shave just $1.4 million in salary off the books next year and $2.2 million in 2012-13.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If the goal is to sign <span>Jamal Crawford</span> and avoid the luxury tax, this deal wouldn’t work.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Proposal 2: Hawks get Devin Harris and Earl Clark</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Granted Harris is an upgrade over Bibby, but he comes nowhere close to replacing the overall production that you’d lose with Smith.<span> </span>Plus, you’d stint Teague’s development by having him third on Atlanta’s depth chart at PG.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once again, this does nothing to address Atlanta’s short term luxury tax issues.<span> </span>Harris is locked up for two more seasons and will clear $9.5 million next year. The Hawks would hold a $2 million option on Clark.<span> </span>If they keep Clark, only $1.1 million would come off of the books next season or $3.3 million if they elect to jettison the second-year former Louisville standout.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Conclusion</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think Hawks fans are starting to get an idea of why much of this Smith-to-somewhere talk is utter nonsense. Unless they make a deal for an expiring contract and a couple of draft picks, it’s very difficult for Atlanta to rid the books of their hometown shot-blocking sensation, reup with Crawford <b>and</b> remain under the luxury tax threshold next season.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If the team wants to avoid the luxury tax next season (and I am not quite convinced that they will do so if the Hawks inch closer to a championship-caliber team), it’s much easier for the team to just walk away from Crawford.<span> </span>That explains why you do not see GM Rick Sund rushing to the bargaining table to ink a deal with the reigning Sixth Man of the Year.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/11/4/1793457/the-cyber-josh-smith-trades-begin-atlanta-hawks-smith-to-phoenix-sunsPhil Foley2010-11-01T21:17:19-04:002010-11-01T21:17:19-04:00Does Big Bucks Atlanta Hawks Dished Al Horford Mean Josh Smith Is A Goner?
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ubtDnr9CNr48rmmnIJm0Y9_2y-Q=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828099/large_atlanta.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>
<div style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; line-height: 16px; padding: 5px;">
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;">The notorious tightwads at the Atlanta Spirit opened up the Brinks truck and handed over a tidy sum to C/F <span>Al Horford</span> ahead of the league's midnight deadline on Monday. Life is good for the former Gator, who inked a six-year, $60 million extension. But can the <a href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Hawks</a> afford to keep their nucleus together?</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/20975/hawks-next-move-wolves-feeling-love" target="_blank">ESPN.com's Chad Ford claims</a> that a number of NBA GMs do not think so.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;">One things for sure, unless the Spirit decides that the team is profitable enough to go into the luxury tax zone, changes are happening for the Hawks next season. Atlanta will have $56.1 million tied up in the starting five of G <span>Joe Johnson</span> ($18 million), G <span>Mike Bibby</span> ($6.2 million), Horford ($12 million), F <span>Josh Smith</span> ($12.4 million) and F <span>Marvin Williams</span> ($7.5 million) and must negotiate a new contract with sixth man <span>Jamal Crawford</span>, who wants a raise from his $10M salary.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Assuming that the luxury tax threshold remains around $68 million and it doesn't take a MIT grad to realize that David Stern's tax man will be coming to take some extra cash from Atlanta's coffers. Let's just say, Atlanta doesn't exactly have ownership that is willing to fork over more revenue to the NBA.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;">So what are the Hawks to do?</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Ford thinks that Atlanta will try to move J-Smoove elsewhere. GM Rick Sund tried to trade Williams to another team in the offseason. There weren't many takers on the guy who may always be remembered around the ATL as the guy who was selected instead of <span>Chris Paul</span>. Atlanta also couldn't get as good of a haul back at the deadline for Crawford, who is an unrestricted free agent after the year. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;">The Hawks wouldn't have made those long term commitments to Johnson and Horford unless they wanted to keep them around for a while. By nothing other than process of elimination, it's Smith. He's got skills and has turned into one of the more electric players in the NBA.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Ford claims that the <a href="https://www.postingandtoasting.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">New York Knicks</a>, the New Jersey <span class="sbn-auto-link"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/new-jersey-nets" class="sbn-auto-link">Nets</a></span>, the <a href="https://www.detroitbadboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Detroit Pistons</a> and the <a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Phoenix Suns</a> could come calling to take Smith away from his hometown. Hopefully, it doesn't come down to that. But in a league that is desperately looking to reduce salaries amidst a global recession, it may be dollars and cents instead of common sense that forces Atlanta's hand.</p>
</div>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/11/1/2323550/does-big-bucks-atlanta-hawks-dished-al-horford-mean-josh-smith-is-aPhil Foley