[lakeshow22Participant]

pacers, raptors among teams that could trade for josh smith

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8398556/nba-which-teams-trade-atlanta-hawks-forward-josh-smith

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

 I need to see this article,  as a raptors fan I don’t understand why Toronto would be a destination as we have enough front court players. I know smith is a borderline superstar but we need a legitimate small forward

[Charlie SheenParticipant]

You said Smith is a borderline superstar dude cant even make the All-Star team and wont make Toronto any better

Now him in Indiana would be interesting

George Hill/Paul George/Danny Granger/Josh Smith/Roy Hibbert is crazy 

[LipstickParticipant]

What would Indy give up? Someone from that lineup would have to go unless Indiana has a ton of expiring contracts.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

 The all star game is a joke. It’s a popularity contest which is why guys like love, smith, Aldridge are barely getting in. All star games don’t show how talented a player is by the way. Allen iverson made it in 2010 when he was averaging 13 a game

[JoeweedParticipant]

Pack your bags, Josh Smith

Indiana, Toronto among good trade fits for Atlanta’s enigmatic power forward

It took Danny Ferry exactly seven days in his new role as the Atlanta Hawks’ president of basketball operations and general manager to completely change the face of the franchise.

His ability to swiftly orchestrate separate deals to part with high-priced veterans Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams signaled a commitment to rebuilding and shed as much as $77 million still owed to the two veterans beyond next season.

Fast-forward two-and-a-half months to today, and Ferry’s rebuilt roster has only a handful of contracts that go beyond the 2012-13 season:

• Al Horford: Signed through 2015-16.
• Lou Williams: Signed through 2013-14.
• John Jenkins: 2012 first-round pick.
• Mike Scott: 2012 second-round pick.
• Jeff Teague: Due to become a restricted free agent at season’s end, barring an extension.

Notice one big name we didn’t mention: Josh Smith.

The tantalizingly talented, yet often frustrating, forward is among the many Hawks entering the final year of their deals, and he represents arguably the biggest challenge for Ferry to date: what to do with Smith.

If handled correctly, this could be the next step toward eventually turning the Hawks into a perennial playoff contender. Mishandled, and this could undo everything good that came out of the trades of Johnson and Williams.

So the question is, what’s the smarter move for Ferry and the Hawks?

a) Negotiate an extension that will keep Smith in Atlanta for the long term.
b) Peddle him to a contender seeking one final piece for a shot at the title.

Let’s delve into that.

Smith, 26, is due $13.2 million this season and is coming off a season in which he established personal highs in both points (18.8) and rebounds (9.6). Even though these numbers coincided with Horford being limited to 11 regular-season games due to a shoulder injury, naturally inflating Smith’s numbers, Ferry made it clear in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution over the summer that he likes what Smith has to offer.

"He’s a really good player," Ferry told the newspaper. "I love his ability to pass the ball. I love his ability to make game-changing plays defensively. I love his competitiveness. If I was out there playing, I would want Josh on my team."

Last season, Smith’s 21.16 PER ranked him No. 8 among all power forwards who played a minimum of 40 games and averaged at least 30 minutes, putting him right ahead of Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett, David Lee and Chris Bosh.

According to stat projections by Kevin Pelton and Bradford Doolittle of Basketball Prospectus, Smith is expected to average 17.3 points and 9.1 rebounds in 2012-13. Yes, those numbers would be down from what Smith did last season, but they’d still represent Smith’s second-best season in terms of both points and rebounds.

Using Synergy Sports Technology to look deeper at the stats, it becomes clearer that Smith’s biggest strength at this stage in his career actually is defense. He has fared particularly well when defending the spot-up and post-up, as you can see below:

Smith: Defending the Spot Up

Year	Pct. of Time	Points Per Play	#NBArank	Rating
2012	23.2	0.905	182	Good
2011	25	0.847	72	Excellent

Two things stand out, here. While these numbers are good, they are hardly eye-popping (as you can see by the NBA rank). And still, they ranked better than anything Smith did offensively, according to Synergy.

Smith: Defending the Post Up

Year	Pct. of Time	Points Per Play	NBA Rank	Rating
2012	22.9	0.753	119	Very Good
2011	20	0.819	147	Good

 

One of the few exceptions is in cuts to the basket, where he’s routinely excelled; 8.9 percent of Smith’s offense came via that route last season, and his 1.355 PPP in those situations ranked No. 55 in the NBA. The year before, his 1.426 PPP in cuts to the basket ranked No. 44 in the league.

Are there flaws to Smith? Sure.

His reluctance to go inside the paint and preference to settle for the "long two" — long regarded as the worst shot to take in any level of basketball — is often vexing, particularly for a 6-foot-9, 225-pound athlete like Smith who has consistently been a reliable scorer closer to the basket.

As Kirk Goldsberry of CourtVisionAnalytics.com pointed out earlier this month, 16.3 percent of Smith’s field goal attempts came via the "long two" a season ago — the highest percentage in the league. More maddening is that he wasn’t even a league average shooter from that range.

Considering all this, as well as the estimated $50-60 million that it’d cost to keep him in Atlanta beyond 2012-13 and the strained relations he’s often had with the franchise over the years, one has to believe that Ferry might have to consider moving him for the right package.

Finding a trade partner is the tricky part.

Trade ideas

Any team with an interest in Smith would likely have to be a contender tradable assets with a willingness to gamble that it could then convince him to ink a long-term deal.

The other difficult aspect to this is that the rebuilding Hawks would need a promising piece in return (ideally a small forward or power forward) whom they could build around, and possibly a first-round pick or two. How many contending teams are willing to part with something like that? Not many.

That being said, here are some potential fits:

Indiana Pacers: Smith for David West, Paul George

The Pacers need another piece to compete with the Miamis and Brooklyns of the East, and Smith could be a younger, more athletic alternative to David West alongside Roy Hibbert in the frontcourt. West, like Smith, is due to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and in order to make the deal work, the Pacers would have to be willing to unload one of their younger, up-and-coming talents like Paul George.

From the Hawks’ perspective, this would essentially be a move to get George. Indiana would be getting a player in Smith who may seem like an odd fit in Frank Vogel’s slow-it-down offensive system, but it could work, and here’s why: The Pacers have taken considerably less 3-pointers and shot more efficiently since Vogel took over, and Smith’s career could take off if he’s able to buy in.

Toronto Raptors: Smith for Andrea Bargnani, Ed Davis and a first-round pick

Some would argue about Toronto being a "contender," but Raptors coach Dwayne Casey is known for his defense and the franchise spent the offseason restructuring its team to fit that approach. The Raptors also have the pieces to make such a deal. Smith would give Casey more of an athletic rebounder at the 4 to put next to highly touted rookie center Jonas Valanciunas and enable the team to move on from the perimeter-oriented Bargnani and still unproven Davis.

Where Atlanta is concerned, it would add yet another shooter and scorer in Bargnani, who is signed through 2014-15, a big man with promise in Davis, and potentially a solid draft pick who would likely be somewhere in the middle of the first round.

Longer shots: Boston Celtics: If there’s a question with Boston’s starting five, it’s at power forward where they will rotate Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger and Jeff Green. Landing Smith would almost certainly mean parting with Avery Bradley and/or Sullinger, and neither is likely to happen…Utah Jazz: Only Denver has as many tradeable assets as Utah, and a swap of Smith for Paul Millsap and someone like Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors, Alec Burks or Gordon Hayward would make sense, but it’s doubtful Smith would sign a long-term deal with the Jazz…San Antonio Spurs: Smith would make sense as a future replacement to Tim Duncan, but it’d almost certainly mean parting with Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs have done nothing but praise the versatile forward since the day he arrived last season…Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets already have a cheaper, younger power forward of the future in Kenneth Faried, but they also are one of the few contenders with a number of players to offer up in a deal. Would they part with Danilo Gallinari to get Smith?…Charlotte Bobcats: Not a contender, but the Bobcats need more key pieces to build around Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Smith could be one, but the Hawks would have to be willing to roll the dice on many of the Bobcats’ younger, less proven players to make such a deal happen.

Joe Kaiser is a writer for ESPN Insider’s Rumor Central.

[LerinErinParticipant]

 If the Hawks traded Smith for Bargnani,  I will hate them for ever. Be Hard pressed to imagine a player I respect less than Andre, tall but doesn’t rebound is the kiss of death in my eyes.

 

The Pacer trade a bit better but still not good.

[mcbaileyParticipant]

You’re right. That Pacers trade is borderline theft.

 

On the Hawks’ part. Money aside, I wouldn’t even trade Paul George straight up for Josh Smith.

[Charlie SheenParticipant]

The other 7 guys are chosen by the coaches and if Jamal Magloire can make one so can Josh Smith. I doubt Atlanta would want anything but expiring contracts and picks to be honest. They’re going no where fast 

[eazy_peachesParticipant]

 I live in Canada and am a Raptors fan, but to say that "some would argue about the Raptors being a contender…" is an understatement. Colangelo and Casey themselves wouldn’t call the Raptors "contenders".

As much as I don’t mind parting with Barngani and/or Davis to aquire an elite talent such as Smith, I believe the Raptors would have an extremely difficult time retaining Smith beyond this season. Toronto does not have a great track record of attracting/retaining big name free agents. Many American NBA players seem to prefer to be playing for a team in their home country, which I can understand.

I believe the Raptors would be better off keeping Bargnani/Davis, whether it be to use them or package them elsewhere. As for the 1st round pick, I believe we already traded our 2013 1st round pick to Houston in the Lowry deal.

[eazy_peachesParticipant]

 I don’t think the package that the article has Toronto offering would be of much interest to the Hawks. If I’m the Hawks, I would either:

1. Try to retain Smith long term

                    or

2. Package him for futures (draft picks/young players) and/or expiring contracts

 

Although the 1st round pick (that we don’t have) and Davis (who isn’t an overly exciting or valuable player at this point) fit that bill, Bargnani has 3 years left on his current contract at 10 mil/11mil/12mil.

[apb540Participant]

As a Sixers fan I’d absolutley love to add Josh Smith but we have nothing to offer. 

[TRC1991Participant]

evan turner?

[LipstickParticipant]

T-Wolves. Josh Smith and Ricky Rubio? Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Give them Derrick Williams and expiring contracts if they have any.

[eazy_peachesParticipant]

 If I’m Minnesota, I’m okay moving forward with a front court of Love/Pekovic. Not to mention they just spent a lot money bringing Kirilenko back into the NBA.

But if I’m the Hawks, Williams would have me interested for sure.

 

[eazy_peachesParticipant]

 The Sixers may have assets that would interest the Hawks. Turner and Holiday are both interesting young players, and they have Moultrie who has some value as well.

That being said, the Sixers would have a glaring hole at PG without Holiday. And now that Igoudala is gone, if they traded Turner, although they would still have options, they would start to look a lot weaker on the wing.

[SmooveKRYPTParticipant]

Denver for Gallo & Faired would be great! They’d destroy the entire league on the break with Lawson, Iguodala, Chandler, Smith, & McGee. Defensively they’d be scary too.

[eazy_peachesParticipant]

 This might be one of the better ideas in the thread. I think the Nuggets would be hesistant to part ways with Faried (10.2ppg 7.7rpg 1.0bpg .586FG% in only 22.5mpg was a solid rookie year), but agree that they would be dangerous with the addition of Josh Smith.

Even though the Nuggets would once again lose depth, as they did in the Igoudala trade, their impressive depth allows for it. 

[jaycee24Participant]

 I know they have a youth thing going on but i feel like he’d be an upgrade there and they do have young assests they could probably be willing to part ways with

[CodySLCParticipant]

I personally think the Hawks should just keep J-Smooth. Most likely they wouldn’t get fair trade value for him anyways. With JJ out they should give him a chance to be a bigger part of the offence. He’s one of the more versatile forwards in the game. He can score, rebound, pass, and though he isnt blocking shots at the rate he did a couple years ago, he’s still a very good defender.

[LipstickParticipant]

Josh Smith and JaVale McGee could be really scary defensively for Denver. Blocks blocks blocks blocks blocks. Adding Iggy into that? Love it.

That or the bloopers and long 2s between the McGee and Smith would reach an all-time high and Karl has nightmares about yet another Smith taking bad shots in Denver

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