Random Thoughts on the Josh Smith Situation

[killbuckner]

The Hawks didn't have their first round pick this year anyway

[is1531]

According to sports 950 host Mike Missenelli Josh Smith will spend the night in Philadelphia, returning on a flight to Atlanta at 1pm tomorrow. In the meantime the 76ers are expected to add Jamont Gordon to their summer league roster this month.

[freshie2]

According to sports 950 host Mike Missenelli Josh Smith will spend the night in Philadelphia, returning on a flight to Atlanta at 1pm tomorrow. In the meantime the 76ers are expected to add Jamont Gordon to their summer league roster this month.

I heard a short clip of Smith's comments. Not a ton to base it on, but he sounds like a kid who doesn't want to leave Atlanta.

[raleigh]

i heard a while back tho that the Hawks ownership wasn't going to match a lucrative offer to Childress or Josh. Is that not the case anymore? im guessing they got their **** together?

The Atlanta ownership has said all along that they intend to match any offer. ESPN and other larger TV markets have always taken shots at the Hawks' ownership, and although some of it has been valid, much of it has been completely false. That happens for several reasons:

1. The ownership doesn't bother to give a rebuttal.
2. Local coverage of the Hawks is atrocious.
3. No one in the national media has any connections inside the ownership. Often, they're simply guessing.

Atlanta is Smith's hometown. I can't see him wanting to leave. He just wants to get paid, like all of us.

[doctor him]

According to sports 950 host Mike Missenelli Josh Smith will spend the night in Philadelphia, returning on a flight to Atlanta at 1pm tomorrow. In the meantime the 76ers are expected to add Jamont Gordon to their summer league roster this month.

I heard a short clip of Smith's comments. Not a ton to base it on, but he sounds like a kid who doesn't want to leave Atlanta.

He's from Atlanta, so I'm sure there's something to that.

Gordon would be a really nice undrafted FA for this team.

[tanman636]

anyone have a vid of josh smith talkin in philly?

[is1531]

After we saw Baron Davis depart the Warriors for the Clippers, the 76ers may have to stand up to a punch form the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors now have a ton of cap space. They are not going to take this blow without hitting back.

If the Josh Smith situation does not benefit Philadelphia, the 76ers could turn to Ben Gordon,, provided they do not give up Iguodala.

[GreenWithEnvy]

the way i look at it tho. Yeah GS has a ton of caproom but they aren't going anywhere now. The West is too powerful. the Sixers are in the East, who's bottom teams are worse than the West's bottom teams and i believe Elton/Smith would be better suited to A) win financially and B) win basketball games/championships in the East ala Philly.

[83SixersRocked]

The silence is deafening. Is there any word regarding an offer the 6ers may or may not have made? WIP saying anything worthwhile?

[The Sixer Fixer]

The silence is deafening. Is there any word regarding an offer the 6ers may or may not have made? WIP saying anything worthwhile?

Straight from Josh Smith's mouth...

When asked if he received an offer he replied with something like...

(long pause) no, there is no offer yet. They are waiting to see what the salary cap numbers are.

I took the long pause to mean the Sixers have in effect told him they will make an offer, but the exact numbers can't be confirmed until they know exactly how much cap room they have.

[ZigZag]

The silence is deafening. Is there any word regarding an offer the 6ers may or may not have made? WIP saying anything worthwhile?

Straight from Josh Smith's mouth...

When asked if he received an offer he replied with something like...

(long pause) no, there is no offer yet. They are waiting to see what the salary cap numbers are.

I took the long pause to mean the Sixers have in effect told him they will make an offer, but the exact numbers can't be confirmed until they know exactly how much cap room they have.

maybe a sign and trade in the works?? i hope so.

[Slacktard]

I think there's only two main reasons why the Sixers wouldn't have offered Josh Smith a written offer sheet.

#1)They aren't completely sold on wanting to give him that money and are keeping their options open and seeing how things play out

or

#2)They are desperately working the phones trying to find a way to dump some salary and be able to blow atlanta away with a huge cap number for Smith's first year plus a big signing bonus for immediate money.

I'm leaning towards #2 because I don't think you go through all of that fanfare for his visit (bringing in the mayor, etc...) if this isn't a guy you seriously are trying to get to come here.

[is1531]

The 76ers are probably wating to see when the cap goes up so they can give Josh Smith the max offer before he signs it . If he signed an offer sheet for 11.5 million and he took it back to Atlanta, the Hawks would probably match. Remember the 76ers only get one chance, if the offer sheet is signed and then matched by the Hawks. Their is no offer sheet signed, so the 76ers will wait and see how much the cap goes up, then present the offer sheet to Josh Smith and hope he signs it. Now they put the Hawks in a tougher position.

In the meantime , the Hawks have an idea how high they will have to go with Smith only after the ist meeting with the 76ers. The 76ers will have their 2nd chance at Smith because he will not sign with Atlanta until he sees the 76ers final offer. If the Hawks match the 76ers offer next week, at least the 76ers gave it their best shot.

[Sixersfan87]

We have a few options if ATL is serious about matching our eventual offer for J-Smoove.

1. Sign and trade Carney, Jason Smith (thus eliminating all of the confusing J Smith issues that would arise in the media guide), and some picks, including the one we got from Utah.

Carney gives Atlanta a relatively young athlete who still shows some potential and can help fill the void on the highlight reel left behind by Smith. Jason Smith is a young big they could pair next to Horford in either the 4 or 5 spot. Its well known the ownership is still somewhat in flux and this move saves them money and gives them some financial flexibility until the reslove their legal problems with their former owner. Everyone wins.

2. If they do match, our back up plan should be to sign Krstic to a reasonable deal, and then look to sign Ben Gordon to give us some much needed shooting from the outside. The Bulls need to get rid of some guards so they might let him walk at the right price, and he is a huge improvement at both ends from Willie. Maggette is great but hes not much of an outside threat and essentially duplicates what Iggy does.

[killbuckner]

I posted a trade on the tradeboard that I think works exceptionally well. Trade Booth and 1.3 million in cash to OKC for Paccelis Morlende. OKC has a trade exception large enough to take on Booth's salary and its going to expire in a week anyway. This way they get a couple hundred K and can cut Booth for free if they like. Or keep him- doesn't matter. Its just free caproom for Philly and free money for OKC.

Carney could also be dumped in this situation and could even be used as incentive to take Booth. OKC and minny both have TE's large enough to take both I believe. Memphis has caproom.