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5 Reasons the Atlanta Hawks should trade Josh Smith

5. They can’t afford to keep everyone

4. He has value

3. He doesn’t have a position

2. They need Marvin Williams

1. They need a true center

The Hawks are in desperate need of a true center more than anything. Bibby is getting old at the PG spot, but he can still make shots, and someone has to show young PG Jeff Teague what it takes to run a playoff team. Crawford isn’t a bad backup point either, but the Hawks’ biggest weakness is that they lack depth inside. Horford does all he can on the front line, but he isn’t at his natural position. (Remember, Horford played the four to Joakim Noah’s five in college.) If the Hawks could trade Smith and get a guy like Brook Lopez, Andrew Bynum, Robin Lopez as part of the return package — or any 7-footer capable of banging with the bigs of the East — it would give them a chance to compete with the elite.

No shot at Brook Lopez, no reason to consider Bynum due to injuries or to consider Robin Lopez.

Once a team gets a good, young center.... they don't trade them.

Oh, and Robin Lopez will be a good, solid center for a whole lotta years. I don't think he'll ever be a star, but he'll rebound, block shots and play defense.

5. Can't afford everyone? Who do you count in everyone? And for how long? Don't know the new CBAs details and I'm fairly certain under current rules could afford Josh until this contract expires. The article seems to think that Jamal Crawford is more irreplaceable to the team than Josh Smith. What?

4. He has value? That is not a reason to trade someone. That is part of an excuse for why you couldn't trade someone else.

3. He doesn't have a position? That too is BS and archaic. There is more than 1 way to trot out a basketball lineup and more than 1 way to play a position.

2. They need Marvin Williams? No. This is flat out wrong. We need the perimeter defense that Marvin can apply, but Marvin at his salary is not a must. Most teams feel that need at a lower cost. With the level of assertiveness that Marvin displays we could easily replace his offensive contributions and employ someone like Matt Barnes for millions less.

1. They need a true center? Doesn't everyone. I actually think due to good health and effort that the Hawks have better C production than most teams. Not everyone can be the Magic, look around the league and see what other teams play at the C position and get back to me.

If we traded for Bynum then we'd be playing Zaza and Jason Collins at C. Brook Lopez is not available. Robin Lopez might actually work long term but it is almost impossible to make a fair swap between the two teams. For instance this works:

Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford
for
Robin Lopez, Goran Dragic, Grant Hill, and Jason Richardson.

Of course if you do that mid-season then you the lose the continuity that the Hawks have been banking on. The following year Hill and Richardson would be gone, just like Jamal would be.

One final point on Robin Lopez. He's only on rookie contract through next year. Then he'd have to be paid and serviceable C's aren't cheap so would we be able to afford him then any more than Josh?

2. They need marvin williams.

lol, list loses all credibilty right there

Another thing: The original article theorizes that if we had a true C we could match up with the Heat because Joe, Marvin and Al could match up with Wade, James, and Bosh defensively (a stretch for Marvin) while Bibby/Crawford/Teague matchup favorably with Arroyo, etc at PG. What Heat C are we worried about? Joel Anthony? Ilgaulkas? Sure he's long, but he can't play much. I'd take my chance with Josh at C against Anthony. Maybe Zoubek will be healthy later in the year to match Z's length.

lol at #2.

This team need for a PG is stronger than it's need for a Center. Horford is an All Star. He only has major issues with Dwight, it's PG where we always get killed at. Smith/Horford need to stay together.

#1 pick wrote:This team need for a PG is stronger than it's need for a Center. Horford is an All Star. He only has major issues with Dwight, it's PG where we always get killed at. Smith/Horford need to stay together.

Howard is simply destroying us, but it doesn't mean every other team are in trouble with Horford at C.
At this moment, Zaza good production help us, but it has its limits.

Now, it doesn't mean we need a All-Star C, but one who could replace Zaza, with better production (it would also cost more than Zaza).

Back to the PG spot, that's right that the PG spot is in trouble, but the SF production is worst.
Meanwhile, we could imagine that with a better passing PG, our SF production would be higher.

I think that Bibby is more important than what some tought, he looks better than last season, and thanks to his FG%, because Joe is horrible at this moment on FG% and efficiency, especially regarding his new contract.
But Bibby should be our backup PG, not our starting PG.

Actually, POR has the PG and C we would need to have a good roster with lots of combinations available.
For the cost of Crawford, we could have Miller and Flip Murray, and for some $M more, we could have Camby instead of Zaza, something that would not have cost anything more if Joe has signed for 90M instead of 124M

It would not be a long term solution for C and PG, but we have been better.

Let's trade Crawford, Zaza and Teague for Miller and Camby, and sign Murray

Miller/Bibby/Joe on PG/SG
Marvin/Evans on SF
Smith/Horford on PF
Horford/Camby on C

It's a rotation I would have liked to see for the same price than what we have.

While we do need a true center, the last thing we should do is trade Josh Smith to get one. If Marvin Williams is considered so valuable, maybe we should trade him and Jamal Crawford for one. Having a frontcourt of Josh Smith, Al Horford, and a true center would not only be formidable defensively, but would be extremely dangerous offensively. I still don't understand why everyone thinks Josh Smith has to play power forward. His natural position is small forward: it's where in played in high school, in his first years in the NBA, and he played there on Friday and put up 20 pts, 8 rebounds, 6 asts, and 5 blks. He has developed a decent jump shot as long as he stays away from the 3 pt line (even if he's 3 for 5 this year), and he is a considerably better face up player than a post up player. Also, Josh is a way above average perimeter defender.

Maybe the reason is only that Josh was more efficient once he played PF, that's all, and it's enough to play him at PF.
Since some thinks that Marvin can play PF, I am all for testing it on some games and see what happen. Josh at SF and Marvin at PF, on offensive end, and whatever is better on defense.

Now, I was looking at the individual stats, and was afraid by the number of guards in double-double, even 20-10, and more than 20 in efficiency.
Joe is near his stats (18.2 pts, 4.20rbd, 5.7ass), but he was around 20 of Efficiency the previous year, and he's this season start at only 14.83, mainly because of his poor FG%
It's cool that we are at 6-0 despite that, but I hope he will wake up because he's worth half of his 20M/yr at this moment.
Crawford is at 14.2 and Bibby at 12.5 (Al 22.83 and Josh 23.5)

Joe's PER is at 14.46, while Crawford has 20.37, Bibby has 15.57, Marvin 13.85, Josh 23.2 and Al 24.4
If we make a new stat of Salary/PER, Crawford, Marvin, Josh and Al have nearly twice their salary in PER (using Al next seasons salaries), Bibby has even three time his salary... and Joe and his 20M/yr contract 0.7 his salary.

Back to Josh, if he can get the same Eff or PER, play defense with the same impact playing at SF than at PF, I am all for that, but it has to be tested with success for the team.

The next thing would be to see if Al can have the same impact at PF than C.
If both works, we can trade Zaza and Marvin for a C, or keep Zaza as backup and trade other players.