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If I had my way, this would be the guy I would be targeting for the Pacers for the PF position. He's 22 years old and would fit in nicely with our young core. A nice 1-2 punch with him and Granger for the future. An excellent shotblocker and overall athlete, Josh Smith would be the ideal 4 for an uptempo system. He stands at 6"9, but he plays bigger. Averaged around 17 ppg and 8 rpg with 2.8 bpg last season.

Maybe we could do a S&T of Jeff Foster, Marquis Daniels, and Shawne Williams, possibly a future first (Top 10 protected) for Josh Smith (roughly 5 years 65 million). Of course, dealing with Hawks ownership would be a fiasco again, but I could see them biting the bullet on money for a season to pair Horford with a vet in Foster while adding some pieces for the future in Williams and a pick.

If I'm the Pacers, I then use part of the MLE to try to lure Eduardo Najera from the Nuggets (an ideal Foster replacement). Re-sign Kareem Rush.

Lineup:

Hibbert/Murphy/Baston
JSmith/Najera/McRoberts
Granger/B. Rush/Graham
Dunleavy/B. Rush/K. Rush
Ford/Jack/Diener

Probably a pipe dream, but whatever.

I like the idea of Josh Smith.... I just don't see it happening. Expirings would give them cap space for next year, but they would still have that cap space for next year and save millions of dollars without doing the trade. Foster would be nice, but not much, especially if they don't have Smith. Williams has very little value. So really we are giving them a first rounder to spend millions of dollars next season. We just don't have enough young talent to give away or that we are willing to give away for them to waste millions, not to mention they'd rather just sign Smith themselves because he is the type of young, talented free agent they'd be looking for. Ooh, but it would be sweet if it went down.

I can't really see why they wouldn't want to do something of that sort if they're going to lose him to Philly anyways. They pick up a young player with at least some potential in Shawne and a first round pick, and unless they're just really set on having the money this offseason so they can afford to fuel their jets, there aren't really any free agents that would come to Atlanta that they could afford better than the combo of Jeff and Marquis. I do like Josh Smith and this would reduce our roster size, but I don't think we should give up so much to get him.

PacersRule07 wrote:If I had my way, this would be the guy I would be targeting for the Pacers for the PF position. He's 22 years old and would fit in nicely with our young core. A nice 1-2 punch with him and Granger for the future. An excellent shotblocker and overall athlete, Josh Smith would be the ideal 4 for an uptempo system. He stands at 6"9, but he plays bigger. Averaged around 17 ppg and 8 rpg with 2.8 bpg last season.

Maybe we could do a S&T of Jeff Foster, Marquis Daniels, and Shawne Williams, possibly a future first (Top 10 protected) for Josh Smith (roughly 5 years 65 million). Of course, dealing with Hawks ownership would be a fiasco again, but I could see them biting the bullet on money for a season to pair Horford with a vet in Foster while adding some pieces for the future in Williams and a pick.

If I'm the Pacers, I then use part of the MLE to try to lure Eduardo Najera from the Nuggets (an ideal Foster replacement). Re-sign Kareem Rush.

Lineup:

Hibbert/Murphy/Baston
JSmith/Najera/McRoberts
Granger/B. Rush/Graham
Dunleavy/B. Rush/K. Rush
Ford/Jack/Diener

Probably a pipe dream, but whatever.

To me Josh Smith is more of a SF than a PF. He would get eaten alive by PFs like Dwight Howard, Randolph, and Rasheed Wallace just because of his size and lack of strength. Even with Najera, i know he could play PF sometimes but hes not too effective there. We're pretty stacked with players that could play the SF and PF sometimes (like Granger and Shawne Williams). But what we need is a true PF with post presence

I would not.

I think Josh Smith can jump really high and run really fast, but I honestly don't like him as a basketball player. I have trouble seeing him fit, as a key player, into a really successful team. Where we often think that Danny will only be a #2 option, primarily because of his (perceived) lack of aggressiveness, I think you're going to have the opposite problem with Josh Smith. He's a guy who should be a third or fourth option, primarily living on fastbreaks, putbacks, and dunks, but he's gonna have aspirations to be the guys.

Smith is also the guy that scares the bejesus out of me when it comes to Danny's contract. The four guys on the market now that are in Danny's range are Smith, Iguodala, Deng, & Gordon. I consider Iguodala to be the only guy to be better than Danny in that group. Gordon is the weakest of the group. At the start of last year, Deng was ahead of Danny, but injuries and a small backslide, coupled with Danny's leap, I think have put Danny out front.

Josh Smith is a guy that I believe is clearly inferior to Danny. He's a better shot blocker and rebounder, and a better athlete, but I believe Danny has a better overall game. However, Josh has a lot more sizzle, and it's going to get some stupid offers, and it's going to impact all of the other guys' market prices.

I clearly could be wrong on this, but this is why I'm not liking the Hawks. I think they're going to end up having to spend the money on Josh, and this will be the start of them transitioning from being young, cheap, and promising to expensive and disappointing. It will be interesting to see which take is right. My impression is that the broad expectation is for Josh to become an exciting All-Star player. However, if I were to guess at the future, I could easily see Josh Smith's career ending as a collection of highlight reel dunks and blocks, along with a series of .500 or sub-.500 records. (Not because he's a loser, but because the investment that will be required in him due to the "sizzle" will be much greater than the contribution he'll make to the wins and losses.)

(On a separate note - I don't think we're looking for a PF. We, as a fanbase, would probably love to see someone athletic like Smith or rough and tumble like Landry, but I don't think the Pacers are. I'm purely speculating here, but I would be far from shocked if this Front Office was perfectly happy going into this season with Troy Murphy as the starting 4. They might be looking to see if they could get a little depth at that position, but I don't think they're going to work real hard at it. I honestly think they're probably pretty comfortable with their Big Man rotation of Foster/Murphy/Rasho/Hibbert, liberally sprinkled with potential minutes from Danny, Shawne, and Maceo Baston.)

i would love this, abs love it!!

make it hap, coach!

Smith is by far one of my top 5 favorite NBA players. I love his style and I think he'd be perfect for the Pacers. We will be an up tempo team with Ford running the show..Anyhow I'm really surprised a team hasn't thrown out close to max dollars for him (out of the few teams that can). He is only 22 years old and wouldn't surprise me if he averaged 3.5-4 blocks a game for the prime of his career..

Ending deals will not entice the Hawks at all. They have cap space as long as they don't sign Josh Smith.

You'll have to throw them some picks and/or pretty decent young players to get them to bite on a sign and trade deal. I agree that he would be a great fit though. You guys are quickly building an uptempo defensive team, which he fits perfectly in.

I would love this. His game would fit the Pacers style perfectly. I don't see this happening though, Josh Smith will most likely be a Sixer next year.

I love Josh Smith. The problem is that he is not a pure PF and is very Danny-like in that concern. I believe that PFs and Cs are more often than not interchangable though and if Josh was getting eaten alive by a PF, switch to guarding with a C. The only teams I can think of that have potential to devastate a team from both big man spots are the Lakers and Suns. If we could get Smith and I find that to be highly unlikely, I think that he would be worth the gamble. If we could ship Dunleavy and filler to get Josh, I think that would be a potentially great idea. Dunleavy is not a SG and Danny has SF locked while also capable of the SG spot.

TJ/Danny/Josh/Murph/Feisty or TJ/Rush/Danny/Josh/Feisty

Either would be quite the run and gun lineup in my view. Either of those lineups are capable of putting up A LOT of points and not be too bad defensively either. Like I said though, I really doubt we have any kind of real shot at him and unless Josh's jumper kept improving as it has, he may end up being overpaid for the role he would play as a Pacer. If something could be done to grab him without giving up Danny, Id have to put some very heavy consideration into it but I just don't see it happening.

Smith has been a great fantasy value the last two years. I'd love to have him. He was even an IU recruit before he decided to go pro out of high school. I really don't understand Atlanta's reluctance to pay him what he's due.

I did hear a rumor of a Tinsley to Atlanta deal that couldn't be announced until July. a sign and trade for Smith would be the best possible deal I could imagine.

Atlanta will match any offer he gets if you ask me. Besides, he appears to have some attitude problems and he really isnt a power forward. I'll pass on shelling out big bucks to him. He isnt a piece that I feel would put us over the top.

Wizop wrote:I did hear a rumor of a Tinsley to Atlanta deal that couldn't be announced until July. a sign and trade for Smith would be the best possible deal I could imagine.

I can't really see anybody that Atlanta would trade for Droopy, unless they wanted to ship us Speedy Claxton, and I don't know if he's retired, going to retired, died, what...

I don't get it. In a traditional half-court system, Josh Smith is a SF. However, in an uptempo system, like the Pacers are committed to running, Josh Smith can easily play the PF position. If guys like Rashard Lewis, Shawn Marion, and Michael Beasley are 4's in the East, why can't Josh Smith be? He's a better shotblocker and athlete out of anyone in this group.

The point about him getting tore up by the likes of Dwight Howard are fair, but why couldn't we just slide Rasho or some other defensive center over and let Josh Smith roam the paint and defend the weaker frontcourt player? As was mentioned by 23Artest23, the only teams that I can think of that have devastating 5-4 combo's are the Lakers, Suns, and I'd add the Raptors (with a healthy Jermaine) and the Clippers (if Brand resigns). Otherwise, it's easy sailing for Josh Smith at the 4. That's only one Eastern Conference team that could "dominate" us. Josh Smith can defend KG, we saw that in the postseason.

The point is probably moot because this likely won't happen, but the Pacers have a bigger all-around lineup (with the exception of Ford)....Dunleavy is big for SG standards, ditto for Danny at the 3, Rasho and Hibbert are big centers. This makes up for Josh Smith's lack of height and bulk. Can you imagine the defensive capabilities of a Rush, Granger, and JSmith trio? These guys could probably defend positions 2-4, although granted Rush would struggle at the 4 a bit but could get away with it in a pinch much like Paul Pierce.

I disagree with you here Count. I think Atlanta will be worse because they will lose Josh Smith. His athleticism gave the Celtics fits in the first round of the playoffs and pretty much the rest of the league too. He'd be the sizzle to Granger's rock steady play. I can't honestly think of a better fit at the 4 for an uptempo system that meets the age requirements of this young core (Chris Bosh? Okafor?Both unrealistic). I don't understand how people can want the 30 year old Marion, but don't like Josh Smith.

It likely won't happen, but I figured it was an interesting topic.

Dreams like this don't come true very often, so we all can just forget about it. lol

PR07 wrote:I disagree with you here Count. I think Atlanta will be worse because they will lose Josh Smith. His athleticism gave the Celtics fits in the first round of the playoffs and pretty much the rest of the league too. He'd be the sizzle to Granger's rock steady play. I can't honestly think of a better fit at the 4 for an uptempo system that meets the age requirements of this young core (Chris Bosh? Okafor?Both unrealistic). I don't understand how people can want the 30 year old Marion, but don't like Josh Smith.

Oh, I think Atlanta would be worse without him, but I just don't think they're going to be very good with him, either. As to Marion, I'm not horribly interested in him, either.

I would have no problem with Josh Smith at $8-9 million a year. He's a good defensive power forward in an uptempo game. I just can't stand him at $13mm.

And, again, I don't think the Pacers are looking for a Power Forward.

Smith would be a great addition, but we'd have to give Dunleavy, I believe. The results could be interesting because Smith and Granger could rotate at the PF spot, allowing them to play together, alot.

It would be nice to have Dun, Granger and Josh, but I just don't see it happening.

don't know why we'd give Dunleavy to sign a free agent that would have an even longer contract and I don't know why Atlanta who is loaded with wings would want another one with a long contract. but then I don't know why they are letting Josh go in the first place. have to think they're being cheap and then why do a sign and trade unless their payroll is so low that they are under the minimum.

Atlanta is stating they'll match any offer that Josh Smith receives in free agency, up to and including a maximum contract.


We simply don't have enough assets we're willing to trade to get a guy like Josh Smith. Atlanta would want Danny Granger for Josh Smith. At least. And around the NBA, Danny and Josh are probably likely to be viewed about the same right now.


But, if we could get Josh Smith for Mike Dunleavy Jr, we'd be stupid not to do it. To be able to start this next season with our future lineup of Ford, Rush, Granger, Smith, and Hibbert (Foster would start of course) would be a huge boon for our franchise.

No doubt, I highly doubt there is a bigger Dunleavy fan on this board than me, but Smith is so much younger that our hand is pretty much forced there.