Where Would Craig Smith Fit?

[shrink]

I really like Craig Smith, and getting him for two years starting at $2.3 mil is an offer nobody can refuse. However, with all of the big man options on the team right now (Al, Love, Ryan Gomes, Cardinal, Madsen, Collins, Booth, and maybe Chris Richard, I think many of us feel that Smith just isn't necessary. With so few minutes to go around, his numbers will surely decline after a rookie year that had him ranked in the Top 10. I'm not an X's and O's guys, so I'm asking you -- on what teams would Craig Smith fit in best?

It seems to me that Craig Smith's biggest asset is that he's very very quick for a PF, and this allows him to get his shot off against much bigger opponents and be an effective low post scorer. His biggest weakness is his height, and at only 6' 7"-6' 8," he's always going to have trouble guarding much bigger PF's. I think he did well when he played alongside Garnett, who is one of the best help-defenders in the NBA, and I could see him doing OK with Collins. However, I just don't think he fits alongside Al Jefferson or probably Kevin Love.

Is a big center who can defend a necessity for a team who would most value Craig Smith? Can you give me some ideas of what players he'd fit well with? Okafor? Camby/Kaman? Duncan? What others?Are there more important criteria needed for a good Craig Smith fit?

Thanks for the input.

[mandurugo]

I think Smith could fit almost anywhere - however, he's going to be a 10th man or so. He is smaller than you're giving him credit for and while his offensive rebounding is pretty good, he's not as good on defensive rebounding. Generally speaking, his defense is bad. He is a pretty good scorer and his handle isn't bad for a guy his size, but he doesn't generate offense for other players. All this means that his role is so limited it doesn't really matter what players you surround him with, if he ends up playing major minutes it means your team is screwed already. I guess he would be most effective on a team whose primary back-up bigs can play either PF or center, allowing him to back-up PF if a primary player gets injured.

[Klomp]

However, with all of the big man options on the team right now (Al, Love, Ryan Gomes, Cardinal, Madsen, Collins, Booth, and maybe Chris Richard, I think many of us feel that Smith just isn't necessary.

I can't agree with that. The last 5 guys you listed (minus Collins) are all bench warmers, and you will likely see 2 or 3 on the sidelines in suits. Gomes will likely be a SF primarily. That leaves Al and Love.

I plan on seeing primarily a 4 man post rotation with Love, Jefferson, Smith and Collins, with Gomes and maybe Richard getting spot minutes.

[Calinks]

Yea the only guys I see clearly ahead of smith in the PF rotation are Big Al and Love. I think Collins and Cookie will get minutes depending on the matchups. Cardinal, Booth, Madsen (didn't even play last year hardly), and Chris Richard probably wouldn't get PT over him. I think Gomes will primarily be at the SF spot.

[prefuse73]

I think it should be pretty simple. Smith will come in for Jefferson and Collins will come in for love. I think Love and Smith can coexist on the floor much more effectively than Jefferson and Smith.

This does mean that Smith will only get about 14-15 mpg, but he has to be either paired with a true 7 footer (collins) or a high post player like love. Smith and Jefferson occupy the same space on offense and are way to undersized on defense.

[shrink]

I don't disagree with any of the posts here, but if we can't play Craig Smith with Al or Kevin Love for much time, do we not all agree he could be a better fit on some other team?

He's cheap and he can score inside, but his size prevents him from being much of a defender. What teams would get the most out of that skillset?

[Klomp]

I'm sorry, but I think we're kidding ourselves if we think the minutes given to most of our players retained will decrease from last year.

Heres a rough sketch how I see minutes breaking down:

Post players
Jefferson 35 minutes (same as last year)
Love 30 minutes (he'll see more time as the season goes on)
Smith 15 minutes (a 5 minute decrease from last year, but still adequate)
Collins 10 minutes (he'll see less time as the season goes on)
Others 6 minutes (garbage minutes to Richard, Madsen, Cardinal, Booth, Gomes)
Total 96 minutes

Wing players
Miller 30 minutes (five minute reduction from Memphis)
Gomes 28 minutes (played 29.7 minutes last year, could see a minute or two at PF)
Brewer 18 minutes (will depend of shooting improvements)
McCants 18 minutes (will see big minute reduction)
Carney 2 minutes (not much time available for him, except garbage minutes)
Total 96 minutes

Point guards
Foye 30 minutes (might see time on the wing)
Telfair 18 minutes (minutes will be down with Foye healthy
Total 48 minutes

[GopherIt!]

plus there's the reality that guys get hurt from time to time. You never want it to happen but that will open up minutes that don't appear to be there right now as well..

[GopherIt!]

He's cheap and he can score inside, but his size prevents him from being much of a defender. What teams would get the most out of that skillset?

In no way am I advocating trading my favorite T-Pup but New Jersey, Boston, Toronto, Charlotte, Chicago, Clippers, Pacers & Phoenix all seem like decent fits for him.

[Klomp]

Something else I just thought about. What would we get back for him? A point guard of equal value wouldnt get enough playing time behind Foye and Telfair. A wing would add to our already LOADED rotation there. A post of equal value, and we might as well just keep Smith unless we got someone like Sean Williams, which is a trade New Jersey wouldn't do.

[shrink]

I like Smith and I think he would combine well with Collins, but I think Gomes has shown that he can play those PF minutes, so I think of Craig Smith as more of a luxury than a necessity, and a luxury that is going to decrease in trade value as his minutes and production decrease.

As for what I'd be looking for in return for Craig Smith, klomp's right that trading him straight up for a PG brings back too good a PG for the #3 spot.. However, I was thinking more of a package deal, where the other team includes their third stringer. For example, I'd be interested in something like Craig Smith + Cardinal for $4 mil two-year deal, and a couple of small expirings .. one of the three players being a PG. Another idea might be to upgrade the BOS pick .. Craig + BOS pick for third string PG and a mid range 1st. Smith + BOS pick for Corey Hart + MIN pick returned? Would Smith play well with Camby and Kaman? I looked at Smith for Deiner + Stephen Graham, with Smith pairing with Rasho and Jeff Foster. Smith could also be included in a larger deal.

While no deal could be done until December 15th, the size of Craig Smith's deal makes it very flexible. Most teams haven't picked up their third string PG's right now anyway. I'd also point out that we don't want our third stringer to be too bad, since if either Foye or Telfair got hurt, we don't have another option and we can't expect the other one to play 48 minutes. Anyway, Smith's contract can match up with a lot of different players, so I was looking to be pointed in the right direction from you X and O guys.

[C.lupus]

Smith + BOS pick for Corey Hart + MIN pick returned?

I like that one. We haven't had a heartthrob on the team since wally left.

http://www.canadiancontent.net/images/p ... y-Hart.jpg

swoooon!

[shrink]

LOL! I just went and checked, and, yes, my famous aphasia has struck again.

Dang, so much for a promo giving out free sunglasses at our first night game.

[deeney0]

Craig Smith wasn't resigned to be traded. There is going to be a roll for him here.

[Devilzsidewalk]

But then surely Gomes wasn't resigned to be traded, Love drafted to sit on the bench, and Miller traded for to sit on the bench. Theres just not enough minutes for everybody, plain and simple

[4ho5ive]

Craig Smith wasn't resigned to be traded. There is going to be a roll for him here.

I think Kevin Love will be taking all the rolls off the table

[Klomp]

I think Kevin Love will be taking all the rolls off the table

But if it were cookies, Kevin would be no match for the Cookie Rhino Monster.

[shrink]

Craig Smith wasn't resigned to be traded. There is going to be a roll for him here.

I'm not so sure. Before the off-season began, I mentioned that there has been a trend for owners to spend less and less on free agents -- in fact, I think I read that no teams used the full MLE on anyone last summer. The prediction (which turned out to be true for the the wolves) was that there wouldn't be a lot of big money offers from other teams, and we'd be able to get our players back cheap. I didn't suspect they'd be this cheap though.

Anyway, if someone offers you Craig Smith for $2.3 mil, I think you sign him, whether you can use him or not. While a team may not want to add $2.3 mil in salary, they may be very willing to trade some current player to get Smith and not add the salary. The lower prices of the contracts these days give the players more relative trade value.

I suspect a lot of bigmen minutes are going to be grabbed by Gomes/Al and Love/Collins, and Craig is #5. We have a lot of swingmen who can play SF (Mike Miller, Brewer, Gomes, and if we probably want to find minutes to see if Carney can make good on his athleticism. I am not saying Smith is a bad player -- quite the contrary. I'm saying that because of the skills of the players around him, he will be less useful to us that to some other team. Since he is also productive and cheap, and his deal only runs two years, he seems to me to be someone that might be traded.

[NO-KG-AI]

The Hornets could definitely use him, he could play with Hilton Armstrong or Tyson.

The Magic could certainly use him to relieve some of the rebounding burden from Dwight Howard.

Any of the Hornets leftovers appealing? How about Melvin Ely?

[delux55]

id give smith for julian wright might even add something to get it done