Jamal Crawford trade...

[DRK]

Just curious about what people think on this board....

If a team offered you a mid first for Earl Clark, would you accept?

[KopLegend]

Just curious about what people think on this board....

If a team offered you a mid first for Earl Clark, would you accept?

Yeah.

[joe.linnen]

Richardson is much better

[Miklo]

Just curious about what people think on this board....

If a team offered you a mid first for Earl Clark, would you accept?

Kyle Singler or go home baby

[tsherkin]

An interesting idea.

Clark/Smith is compelling, and a lot more valuable than what the team would be giving up, particularly since Smith is a good rebounder and shot-blocker. He's also an underrated passer, and will be only 25 this year. He's regressed a lot at the line the last two years after having added some muscle in order to play the 4, but maybe the Suns general "JEEBUSTHEYCANALLSHOOT!" mentality can help him out a little on that front. He's not as nasty a shot-blocker as he was in his early 20s when he was a roaming SF, but that's OK, because 2+ spg with 7-9 rpg (which is about what he's giving on average the last 3 or 4 years) is absolutely fine by me, particularly since he's also good at picking the passing lanes.

Then you add another perimeter iso scorer to the team, something Nash really hasn't had since Joe Johnson left the team (although I guess as Dragic continues to get better, he's showing that he's a creator, even if he isn't a scorer, per se); it's a questionable move in terms of chemistry and because Crawford's a little older and had a sort of flash-in-the-pan season. Having said that, if he's cool with a role similar to what he had in Atlanta (~ 30 mpg as a 6th man scoring spark), we can look positively on the fact that he's generally been a sound (if not amazing) 3pt shooter his whole career, and that he's drawn fouls effectively his whole career. While his FG% is unpleasant most years apart from last year (something that Nash will help), he's been comparatively lacking in assisted buckets, as someone else mentioned. I should mention that he shot 42% from 16-23 feet last year on about 4 attempts per game, and that he's got a couple of 47% seasons from that distance over the last 3 or 4 years. He can shoot that J, particularly if he's getting set up from time to time and there are other threats out there. If he can keep his head on straight, which is quite possible, then he could be a huge value addition to the team in terms of having another option on the perimeter to attack the defense when it keys in on Nash.

And Smith could go a long way to covering the gap Amare left, because he gives you similar rebounding and vastly superior defense, while Crawford helps make up some of the offense we lost (and so does Smith, really, since he gives a low-post scoring option for the half-court and even a pick-and-roll finisher).

If Atlanta didn't laugh boisterously and then hang up, I'd do that trade in a second, I just think that they'll try to figure something out with Horford/Smith before they really decide to move Josh off the team, especially because he's been integral to their ability to make and compete in the playoffs these last couple of years.