Should Atlanta Trade Josh Smith?

There is the $6M payment for Smith if he gets traded, but I wonder if the Hawks can pay a portion of that to get the right deal done.

Also, someone else pointed out that because Memphis signed Smith’s offer sheet last summer, then they cannot trade for Smith until August 15th.

Then, you put that with the fact that Sam Presti at Oklahoma City is not ready to pull the trigger on a player who is not ready to be Kevin Durant’s dance partner, and if Rubio falls to the Kings, they’d swoop him up in a heartbeat all leads me to believe, Smith probably isn’t on his way out of Atlanta.

If this is the case, and the Hawks want to keep Josh Smith, then you have to REPLACE Mike Woodson. As good as Woodson has been for the Hawks, if you believe that Smith can be a top 20 player, then you have to take all the necessary steps into helping reach that ceiling. I don’t believe Smith will ever respect and listen to Woodson enough to get there.

OTHER STUFF:

draftexpress.com came out and said that the Hawks may package the #19 pick with Speedy Claxton’s expiring contract, just so they can afford to bring back Bibby. http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Word-on-the-Street-June-16th-3263

This would mean NO 1st RND pick for ATL. It’s all in what you believe. If you believe this is an overall weak draft, and there is no real value at #19, then by all means, sell the pick. BUT, as Rajon Rondo and Rudy Fernandez told us, there is major value to the teams who do their homework.

I really, really wanted Ricky Rubio on the Hawks. I just thought that he’d be a great fit running the show. Now, it looks as if the T’Wolves are gonna trade up to the #2 spot to get him. Oh well, looks, just as long as we don’t draft Jeff Teague, I’ll live.

With the Warriors and the Suns struggling to complete the Amare deal, Phoenix is thinking about other offers. Phoenix really wants Josh Smith, and rumor has it that they’ve offered Amare Stoudemire to try and lure him away.

I don’t like this trade for either team. Atlanta would get one year with Amare and Joe to try and win the East, then they’d be back where they were in 2004. And I have no idea why Phoenix would wanna give up on Amare, and leave Nash with a bunch of young guys. This proposed deal makes no sense.

On second thought, this actually may be a good thing for the Hawks if they don’t believe Josh Smith will ever mature into a top twenty talent. They’d be telling their fans, we serious about winning right now. And, I like this lineup:

FC – Al Horford
PF – Amare Stoudemire
GF – Joe Johnson
G – Jamal Crawford
PG – Mike Bibby

The Hawks wouldn’t be able to afford to resign Bibby, Marvin and Flip, and truthfully, they’d probably have to pick one of the three. Bibby would give them the best shot to win this year.

It’s not for the future, and it’s something to think about.

~ Why is PHX putting Amare on the trading block?