Josh Smith confirmed on Monday that the Atlanta Hawks did not meet with him in free agency and did not offer contract to re-sign him.
“No, there wasn’t,” Smith told 92.9 FM Atlanta, when asked if there was a contract offer. “During free agency, during that period, there were a lot of guys out in L.A. that were meeting with various teams. I was one of those guys. That’s where I work out in the summertime as well. The only time I saw the Hawks during free agency was when they came to one of my workouts just to say hello. I think they were meeting with Dwight Howard that day. They never came in or sat down with me during the free agency period to offer me anything.”
Smith, the long-time Hawks player and local product, ended up signing a four-year, $54 million contract with the Pistons in July. The forward returns to Atlanta Wednesday for his first game at Philips Arena as a visitor.
Smith, who is top 10 in most of the Hawks’ all-time statistical categories after nine years with the organization, said he has no hard feelings.
“Once you take your personal feelings out of the situation you understand that it is a business, more so than anything,” Smith said. “You kind of are going to set yourself up for failure. It’s probably an organization that probably wanted to go in a different direction and I understand that. I moved on for the better of my situation and I’m pretty sure they felt the same way.”
