New Sekou Piece

[Lascar78]

Does the game even exist anymore?

By Sekou K Smith | Monday, July 30, 2007, 12:57 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After two solid weeks of CNN-esque sports coverage the question hit me late Sunday night: does the game even exist anymore?

It’s a rhetorical question, of course. But with the steroid/performance enhancement era in full swing in basically every pro sports endeavor, what do we have left? No one escapes suspicion these days, whether there is any legitimate reason to suspect them or not. And if guys aren’t being accused of “cheating” the game they are being accused of doing something even more heinous (Tim Donaghy, Adam Jones and Mike Vick to name the three most prominent names).

That’s why I’m fighting the power today with an overdose of pure basketball. I promised to give you Part II of my summer league Wrap (it) Up. That’s the last time we all talked strictly basketball and were able to enjoy our the frivolous nature of these things that we take way too seriously sometimes.

I’m here to do my part today in refocusing your attention on basketball. I don’t care that we’ve already pounded these topics into dust. So get your hammers out again so we can pound them some more:

Part I (an epic even longer than I intended) finished with Josh Smith, so I won’t belabor that issue much longer. But I will update you all on a few details that have trickled out since then. A grim picture was painted about the prospects of Smith and the Hawks agreeing on a contract extension before the Halloween deadline (and I still don’t believe a deal will be struck by then), but the Hawks did make a solid offer ($9 million a year over five years) and they did have the entire ownership group in agreement on extending such an offer to Smith (who is a franchise cornerstone regardless of all the opinions about him to the contrary). It doesn’t sound to me like the two sides are terribly far apart on the number (I’d guess roughly $10-15 million over the life of the deal), but that’s just me guessing. What I can tell is that both sides appear willing to play this season out and see where they stand next summer - when Smith will be a restricted free agent and the Hawks will have the right to match any offer he receives from another team. I don’t think it’ll be nearly the soap opera some people have forecasted it to be, but I do think it will be a situation that needs to be monitored closely.

Another topic of interest leftover from the June draft is who or what put the kibosh on that rumored (and that’s all it was) deal that had the Hawks acquiring Amare Stoudemire in a three-team deal with Phoenix and Minnesota. My digging has yet to produce anything other than flat denials from every corner about the seriousness of the Suns’ to even deal their first team All-NBA center. I thought it was crazy at the time and I still think anybody willing to part with that type of talent for anything other than say a Dwight Howard (the only other young big man, to me, in Stoudemire’s category) is lunacy. But for the record (and for the last time), Stoudemire was not coming to Atlanta (no matter how sweet it sounded in theory and no matter how much the Hawks or their fans wanted it to happen).

Speaking of value, one of my many conversations in Salt Lake City centered on the value of another Stoudamire … Salim. The third-year shooting guard would appear to be the odd man out in a backcourt playing rotation that now includes a rookie guard (Acie Law IV) that can swing between both the point guard and shooting guard positions. But I was told that to assume anything regarding Stoudamire would be a mistake. In a league where shooters have always been valued above and beyond any other specialist, Stoudamire’s the Hawks’ deadliest pound-for-pound (or should I say minute-for-minute?) threat. Figuring out how to use him falls on the coaching staff. They’ll have some tough decisions to make about how to utilize this guy. But there’s no doubt the Hawks need another outside shooter to help take some of the scoring pressure off Joe Johnson. Stoudamire and Hawks coach Mike Woodson have to find some common ground in their relationship (which was considerably better after the February trade deadline compared to what it was before that time). I dig Salim’s free spirit and his attitude toward the game, dude is a perfectionist and strives for such when he’s on that floor. I admit he’s one of my favorite cats, quirks and all, on this team the past two years. I sat out the deadline with him in February and witnessed his anguish. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, if he was going to be traded or not. But he vowed that day, when it finally hit him that he wasn’t going to be traded, that he was going to play his guts out no matter what happened. And if you go back and study the remainder of his season that’s exactly what he did.

Wait a minute … you hear that? Sounds like crickets. Or the Hawks’ activity (or lack thereof) on the free agent market this summer. I didn’t expect the Hawks to be terribly active on the free agent scene this summer. But I haven’t been able to find any potential free agent the Hawks have courted this summer. I had a feeling after watching the summer league games that the 14 players the Hawks have under contract would be the 14 they’d go to work with at training camp. It’s not rare for a team to be quiet in the offseason, particularly when they feel they’re at a point with their core players that allows them to concentrate solely on the growth and development of those guys. And every update I’ve received indicates that guys like Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Josh Childress and the like are working like crazy in anticipation of this season being the one that finally puts the Hawks back on the proverbial map. But crickets?

Finally, and there will be more on this in a story I’m working on for later this week, what do the Hawks do with all these point guards? I know it sounds like a ridiculous question for a team that’s spent the better part of the past three seasons trying to find an answer to that question (I’d make my obligatory Luke Ridnour comment here but I’ve moved on, ha). We had a poll here on ajc.com a couple weeks back asking what the Hawks should do. And the voting was overwhelmingly in favor of starting rookie Acie Law (a noble suggestion for sure, but reasonable … I don’t know about that just yet).

The fact is the Hawks have some serious cash invested in Speedy Claxton ($6 mil-plus), Tyronn Lue ($3.5) and Anthony Johnson ($2.6). If any moves are made by the Hawks in training camp (and that’s a very good possibility), I expect it to be one of these guys being moved to make room for the rookie, who projects as the full service point guard that the Hawks have not had. I asked one of my dinner companions in Salt Lake City what they would do with all those guys and he made quick work of it. “For that team, with the young guys they’ve got piled up on the wings, they need to find out first if Speedy is healthy and if he can play the way he did before last season,” he said. “If he’s ready to run and ready to run that team, then he’s your guy with Acie backing him up and [Lue or Johnson] as the third guy. You’ve got to have a security blanket with an injury-prone veteran and a rookie. The bottom line is this, if Speedy’s not ready for the starting job, you’ve got to do whatever it takes to move him and go with those other guys. But they’ve got to get that spot cleaned up if they have a chance to fight for a playoff spot.”

Figuring out who to move and for what is why Billy Knight and his front office crew make the big bucks we don’t. They’ll have to decide which guy fits best from a chemistry standpoint and likely from a financial standpoint. The money spent on Claxton (who has three years left on his deal) makes it tough to think about trading him. That said, I don’t think there is a sacred cow among the veterans. Special attention needs to be paid to these guys come training camp.

Sounds like ownership offered 5 years at 9 mil per, Smith wants 10-12 mil per. He is certainly not worth 12. 9 seems fair, I might do 10 just to get it over with. I think that he'll get a 5 year 50 million deal in the end, hopefully this summer but it doesn't sound like it.

[KB21]

I believe 5 years, $50 million was the speculated price for Josh after the Gerald Wallace and Dwight Howard deals were signed. I felt that number would be Josh's basement price, but I could see this becoming a $60 million deal. The thing is, if we wait till he's a restricted free agent, that price is going to go up, up, up. Especially if Josh comes out and averages 20 and 10 this coming season.

[DrReality]

Just when there hasn't been anything to read about the Hawks, Sekou came through again. I'm hoping that the piece he mentioned about point guards let's us know the status of Craig. If everyone came back healthy . . . . it would be an exciting team.

[exodus]

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The thing is, if we wait till he's a restricted free agent, that price is going to go up, up, up.

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I doubt it. If you look at the history of RFAs most of them don't get any offers from other teams at all. And i don't think there will be that many teams under the cap anyway.

[AHF]

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The thing is, if we wait till he's a restricted free agent, that price is going to go up, up, up.

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I doubt it. If you look at the history of RFAs most of them don't get any offers from other teams at all. And i don't think there will be that many teams under the cap anyway.

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I hope you are right, Ex. Knowing that Belkin could veto a 5+ year deal at any moment is disconcerting.

[MemphisX]

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The thing is, if we wait till he's a restricted free agent, that price is going to go up, up, up.

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I doubt it. If you look at the history of RFAs most of them don't get any offers from other teams at all. And i don't think there will be that many teams under the cap anyway.

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Until you put a young RFA on the market that you might be able to give an offer high enough that his other team won't or can't match.

If Rashard Lewis just got $20+ million a year, going by what Atlanta was willing to pay Joe Johnson, I would say Josh Smith will get a MAX offer. Plus add in the fact that he has the potential to be a seat filler and it is a no brainer.

[exodus]

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The thing is, if we wait till he's a restricted free agent, that price is going to go up, up, up.

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I doubt it. If you look at the history of RFAs most of them don't get any offers from other teams at all. And i don't think there will be that many teams under the cap anyway.

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I hope you are right, Ex. Knowing that Belkin could veto a 5+ year deal at any moment is disconcerting.

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True but he apparently just approved a 5 year deal for Smith.

As much as a punk has Belkin has shown himself to be i haven't seen anything to make me think he is dumb and not resigning Smith would definitely be dumb.

[exodus]

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If Rashard Lewis just got $20+ million a year

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He was unrestricted.

Gooden and Wilcox got no offers as RFAs. Neither did Chandler. Curry got 1. Varejao hasn't had any that i know of.

[AnakinJoe]

Smith can't max out at Rashard Lewis level because of his tenure in the league. His max amount is probably closer to $15M per. Also, when a team offers a contract to a RFA, their money is "frozen" until the incumbent team makes a decision. in other words, if Miami offered Smith a 5/$60M contract next season as an RFA, they essentially would be charged the $12M in cap space until the Hawks decided if they would match the offer. That would likely keep them from pusuing any other FAs while the Hawks hold them over the barrell. That's one reason many RFAs don't get offer sheets, teams don't want to be temporarily locked out of the free agency period when the incumbent team will likely match anyway.

[AHF]

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The thing is, if we wait till he's a restricted free agent, that price is going to go up, up, up.

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I doubt it. If you look at the history of RFAs most of them don't get any offers from other teams at all. And i don't think there will be that many teams under the cap anyway.

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I hope you are right, Ex. Knowing that Belkin could veto a 5+ year deal at any moment is disconcerting.

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True but he apparently just approved a 5 year deal for Smith.

As much as a punk has Belkin has shown himself to be i haven't seen anything to make me think he is dumb and not resigning Smith would definitely be dumb.

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If Belkin thought he could get a ton of $$ from the current ownership by holding the Smith negotiations for ransom, would it be dumb of him to use Smith's new contract as a bargaining chip to prompt a buyout of his interests in the franchise?

[AtLaS]

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I doubt it. If you look at the history of RFAs most of them don't get any offers from other teams at all. And i don't think there will be that many teams under the cap anyway.

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That's somewhat true, but not a chance worth taking, especially given Belkins power to block a 5 year.

Lamar Odom, Elton Brand, Boozer, our own JJ, Terry, Corey Maggette, Damien Wilkins, James Posey, Jared Jeffries to name a few off the top of my head signed RFA offers.. Half of them aren't even as talented as Smith. The reason the good players rarely sign an offer sheet is because their teams don't screw around and they resign them.

Teams know that our ownership is in a horrible position and if Smith has a great year it's very possible someone clears space and makes a strong pitch for him.

[exodus]

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If Belkin thought he could get a ton of $$ from the current ownership by holding the Smith negotiations for ransom,

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LOL i never thought of that. Sure is fun being a Hawks fan.

[Johnnybravo4]

Its Joe Johnson all over again. When Sarver had the opportunity to get him for 55 mil the year before, they decided to roll the dice..and look what happened. And Smoove is about at the same point where JJ was in his career, except that Josh is a big wing and got there younger in age. Give him 5 years and 55 and just keep steppin.

[gsuteke]

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Its Joe Johnson all over again. When Sarver had the opportunity to get him for 55 mil the year before, they decided to roll the dice..and look what happened. And Smoove is about at the same point where JJ was in his career, except that Josh is a big wing and got there younger in age. Give him 5 years and 55 and just keep steppin.

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while I think that is slightly overpaying at this point (I think 50 million is a more reasonable offer) it's not my money we're talking about here.

pay the kid and let's move on.

[Diesel]

I think it would be smart if the difference is 5 year 45 million and 5 year 50 million to go ahead and pay him the 50 million. Even 5 year 52.5 million. The truth is that even though we can afford to lose Smoove, why would you want to?

[MoonKnight]

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I think it would be smart if the difference is 5 year 45 million and 5 year 50 million to go ahead and pay him the 50 million. Even 5 year 52.5 million. The truth is that even though we can afford to lose Smoove, why would you want to?

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We cannot afford to lose Smoove. Period. Despite our collection of forwards, Smoove is the only guy with clear all star potential and the potential to be a box office draw. No forward on our roster replicates Smoove's skills. We should try to lock him down now.

[Diesel]

I agree 100%. There's no other draw as marketable as Smoove, however, on the court, Smoove is replaceable.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

. . . the Hawks should do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in regards to giving Smoove a contract extension this summer. I say this for two reasons.

1) This guy has only played at a high level for about two months out of his entire career. I know he has a ton of fans here, and I'm one of them. But I'm also cautious about giving a frontline guy who hasn't even shot over 46% FG at any point in his career, a big time deal. He needs to be a much more consistent offensive player to warrant the type of money that people are talking about signing him for. 5 years - 50 million would be the absolute MAX I'd give him right now.

2) Motivation. Don't give him his money now. Let the lack of a contract be his motivation to prove that he's a big time player worthy of big time money. How many guys in this league have we seen get their money, only to level off or even decline as a player? Or how many completely overpaid shotblockers do we have in this league? If Josh wants big time money, let him prove it on the floor with stellar and consistent play.

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If Smoove plays well, the marketplace will set his price. Unlike the Suns, the Hawks can easily position themselves to match any offer for Smoove, because of the commodity that most of you overlook . . . the expiring contracts.

As it stands right now, if the Hawks just let those contracts expire without picking up anybody, our team salary is going to be somewhere around 40 million going into the summmer of 2008, before deciding what to do with Smoove or Childress. That's 40 million amongst these 8 players:

Hawks 08 - 09 salaries ( if Hoopshype.com is right ):

- JJ ( 14.2 million )

- Speedy ( 5.8 )

- Marvin ( 5.6 )

- ZaZa ( 4.0 )

- Al ( 4.0 )

- Shelden ( 3.4 )

- Acie ( 2.1 )

- Solomon ( 0.8 )

This number could possibly be lower, depending on if the Hawks feel that Marvin and Shelden are also expendible, and decline to pick up the team option on them. That's possibly another 9 million that could come off the books in the summer of 2008.

If Smoove proves that he's a MAX player, and Marvin continues to improve, Chill is gone. If Smoove levels off where he is right now, there's a possibility that we can resign both of those guys, and still be under the cap . . which I think may be as high as 58 - 59 million for the 08 - 09 season.

That's a solid 18 - 19 million to work with to possibly resign Smoove and Chill, and add other players to the roster if necessary. That's more than enough money to keep this team together, plus add a cheap vet or two.

The fact that we don't have to add a 1st round pick in 2008, helps this situation tremendously. If the core of this team plays well in 2007 - 08, we can easily keep them together in 08 - 09.

So if I'm the Hawks, I'm not doing anything rash at this point.

That could all chance by the time the trade deadline comes, especially with the expiring contracts. But something tells me that the Hawks aren't going to do a thing with those guys, and just let Lue, AJ, Lo, and Salim fall off the books . . with them possibly re-signing Salim or Lue on the cheap if possible.

Potential Hawks salaries in 08 - 09:

- JJ ( 14.2 million )

- Smoove ( 11 million )

- Childress ( 6 million )

- Speedy ( 5.8 )

- Marvin ( 5.6 )

- ZaZa ( 4.0 )

- Al ( 4.0 )

- Shelden ( 3.4 )

- Acie ( 2.1 )

- Solomon ( 0.8 )

So with the remaining money, you add a veteran shooter ( possibly re-signing Salim, or a vet SG/SF ), and maybe a defender. Spots 12 - 14 will be filled with scrub talent.

So yes . . let Smoove prove that he's a big time player, and not just a good player late in the season when the season is already over.

[coachx]

Good post and good perspective.

Sounds plenty rational to me.

I would hate to see Smoove get big money, get lazy, and turn into an overpaid Darius Miles.

If Smoove did get an early extension there would naturally be some resentment from Chills and Marvin. As nice as Chills and Marvin are, they are only human.

[exodus]

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This guy has only played at a high level for about two months out of his entire career.

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That is a ridiculous exaggeration. He only had one bad month this past season and played well the whole season after that. And he played very well after the All-Star break in the previous season.

Certainly he has some things to work on but he has shown time and again that he is willing to work hard to improve his game.

If we could sign him to a 5 yr $50 million deal now i would be all for it. However i won't be too stressed if we wait until next summer because i don't think there are many teams that will be capable of making him a big offer.