Smith Contract Extension Stalled Until Next Year

[mrhonline]

Sorry, guys. Went out of town for a job interview (no go, sadly) and my computer died (I nearly cried).

The Hawks' cap looks like this next year:

JJ - 14.23M

Speedy - 5.76M

Marvin - 5.74M

Hofo - 4.03M

Zaza - 4.00M

Shelden - 3.40M

Law - 2.07M

Jones - 0.80M

Smith's cap hold - 6.73M

Childress' cap hold - 10.89M

Player 11 - 0.44M

Player 12 - 0.44M

TOTAL - 58.73M

IOW, the Hawks are over the cap next year, and will only have the full MLE and LLE available to them.

As you can tell, Childress' cap hold ($11M) far exceeds his potential salary ($5-6M) for 08-09, which is why I'd advocate extending him now rather than waiting if financials were the only deciding factor. However, doing so could potentially alienate Josh Smith.

[jerrywest]

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I think Smoove wants to wait as well, Why sign it now. When he can get more money or leave for a better team. Either way it works out in Smooves favor.

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If Smoove is traded to LA Clippers, would you change your team?

[TexasPete]

Frankly, this is a good move by the ASG. If JS has a phenomenal year then you don't mind handing him a huge deal. If he doesn't live up to what most expect, his value goes down and they save some money.

The Hawks will make it clear that they will 100% match any offer and watch as potential suitors likely back off. There are so few clubs that can make a move it's really a good situation for the Hawks.

Free agency is not living up to its promise for a lot of players because there are few teams left that can add a big contract. Most teams that love Smith will be in no position to make an offer.

The other thing is Smoove will play hungry...that is a great thing for the team.

[prolific25]

This is a mistake by the Hawks. They should have learned from the Suns mistake with Joe and gave him his money this summer. There's a great chance he's going to cost even more next year so what's the point of waiting. The Hawks need Josh Smith much more than he needs the Hawks!

[HawksFan87]

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I think Smoove wants to wait as well, Why sign it now. When he can get more money or leave for a better team. Either way it works out in Smooves favor.

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If Smoove is traded to LA Clippers, would you change your team?

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I would be pissed off at first but , I will always be a fan of the HAWKS. But Smoove is going to be my favorite player regardless if he stays with the HAWKS or not nothing is going to change that....

[HawksFan87]

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This is a mistake by the Hawks. They should have learned from the Suns mistake with Joe and gave him his money this summer. There's a great chance he's going to cost even more next year so what's the point of waiting. The Hawks need Josh Smith much more than he needs the Hawks!

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I agree, Billy Knight would get ran out of town if that happened. And hopefully he is not dumb enough to let that happen..

[TexasPete]

The point of waiting is that you only have a few teams that can even play for him...if that many. If he wants max cash, there are only one, maybe two even capable. And if they know you will match, they won't play.

This puts the pressure on Josh to blow it out. If he does that then the Hawks will know with 100% certainty that he's worth the max...and they will pay it.

The Hawks are letting Josh establish his value and will pay him equal to his value. You don't see that?

[jerrywest]

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The point of waiting is that you only have a few teams that can even play for him...if that many. If he wants max cash, there are only one, maybe two even capable. And if they know you will match, they won't play.

This puts the pressure on Josh to blow it out. If he does that then the Hawks will know with 100% certainty that he's worth the max...and they will pay it.

The Hawks are letting Josh establish his value and will pay him equal to his value. You don't see that?

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Some people just don't know how the recent collective bargaining agreements have shackled the free agents. Teams control just about everything now.

[prolific25]

Are you kidding? We already know there is some tension between Josh and Woody....you don't want tension between him and the front office. You are ignoring the chance that Josh says **** you to the Hawks come next year like Joe did to Phoenix and wants to play some where else(not likely but I don't want to run the risk). That's the biggest reason he should be re-signed.

I also don't agree with you that he should have to play this year to see if he's worth the max. No one is talking about giving him the max right now. His agent probably didn't even want the max. The Hawks offered 45 million dollars(joke of an offer). I think the market for Josh,Iggy,Deng,Okafor is what Kevin Martin($55 million) got. None of them will sign for less so we might as well offer it to him this summer. The Hawks are crazy if they thought he would sign for less than Devin Harris.

He has gotten significantly better each year and the odds are that he's going to do it again this year. You might as well give him the money now.

[TexasPete]

Josh will get paid next summer by the Hawks. He is likely asking for near max money and the Hawks want another season to see if he deserves it. The new CBA has handcuffed free agents in a huge way. Josh would have to be willing to play out his option NEXT year and risk injury...and then he would need to find a team that could pay him the max or near max money he wants. That is a risk HE WILL NOT TAKE.

Again, the players do not hold the cards because the cap is killing almost every team in the league. There might be one or two this summer that can even try to sign Josh, and if they do, the Hawks will match.

This is smart by the front office if they belive that he currently is not a max player. At seasons end he will either be a max player or he will not. Josh will get what he's worth at the end of the season.

[prolific25]

You obviously understand the concept of selective reading. Read the 1st paragraph on the post you replied to. Here is a quote from Smith's agent three months ago.

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"With the uncertainty surrounding the organization you would think that they would want to sign a player who has made it clear to them that he wants to be here [in Atlanta] and shown that he wants to improve as a player," said Wallace Prather, one of Smith's agents. "And it's very disappointing that they're not making it a priority."

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http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives...xtension_talks/

As I said before...why would you risk pissing him off with a low-ball offer like Phoenix did to Joe Johnson in 2004?

[oiatlhawksfan]

Hope it doesn't turn into that, Hawks getting into the playoffs, might help the situation.

What are the chances we keep both him and Chillz after next season. Then we also have Marvin contract extension.

[TexasPete]

You typically don't worry about pissing off a player when you hold most of the cards.

Josh's agent sounds just like every other agent in the universe. So what? Piss off Josh? Josh better play ball and not piss off the money.

You clearly have zero grasp of the current climate in the league. Josh will be a Hawk for a long time at a price likely less than he wants.

[AnakinJoe]

Huh? What is it that makes Smith so vital to a team that was won 69 games in his 3 years? His scoring? I'm guessing that we can cover that between Marvin and Horford. Rebounding? Horford and a defensive C can cover that. Shot blocking? Defensive C again. Ticket sales? Over-rated. Let's assume that Smith is good for 3,000 tickets a game. Balance this roster by trading him for a defensive center (let's call him Tyson Chandler for a minute) and I'd suggest that a front court of Marvin/Horford/Chandler would be good enough for a playoff birth for the next 4 years. Winning more than 23 games a year (Smith's current average) would bring those 3,000 fans right back to the arena. Smith WILL NOT walk without us getting something back. Folk have used the JJ example. Did Phoenix get nothing back when JJ asked out? No, he had to settle for a sign & trade to maximize his contract value. And Phoenix got 3 assets. No sir, Smith (nor any other player) is in control coming off of his rookie contract. We complain about bad GM moves. Bidding against yourself for your own free agent is a bad GM move. Let the market set the price, then make another offer.

[AtLaS]

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Huh? What is it that makes Smith so vital to a team that was won 69 games in his 3 years?

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The Hawks last year had a 30-52 record, which is a ~37% rate.

Hawks record without Smith was 1-9, which is an 11% rate.

When Smith didn't play it was obvious our team didn't play nearly the same. And I don't mean just the record, our team just looked a lot worse out there. Even JJ said his play was the most important to our success, "we go as he goes" or something like that, is what he said.

[TexasPete]

I happen to place great value on Smith but the market WILL set the price and the Hawks WILL pay it. The market hasn't yet set the price.

[AnakinJoe]

37% winning percentage is less than 30 wins a season. That's worth rewarding? Let me get this straight, you curse out your coach, disrespect fans (leading to a fine), refuse to run a play and your winning percentage in the line-up translates to less than 30 wins a season. And with this admirable track record, a 500% raise should be provided BEFORE guys like Iggy, Ben Gordon, Deng and Okafor get a contract extension? I don't think so. Keep that carrot. Make the playoffs, Smith puts up solid numbers, pay him every penny he has earned. I'd like to see him get his money, but only after this team crosses that big hurdle.

[AtLaS]

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37% winning percentage is less than 30 wins a season. That's worth rewarding?

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Dude, by your logic, KG doesn't deserve a big contract either since his team sucked. Obviously my point completely blew over your head. By the statistics and the words from JJ's mouth, Smith makes us 26% better than we are without him. YES that is worth rewarding.

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And with this admirable track record,

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Wow, 2 incidents in 3 years, that's horrible.

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a 500% raise should be provided BEFORE guys like Iggy, Ben Gordon, Deng and Okafor get a contract extension? I don't think so.

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Who cares what other FAs are doing? I want best for the Hawks, I'm not gonna let other players get signed before I make my decisions.

[AnnArborHawk]

What people haven't mentioned is that the market for a restricted free agent in today's NBA is just not there like it used to be. Case and point, Anderson Varejao. He's looking for 10 mil per but didn't get it. Now he's stuck dealing just with the Cavs and nowhere near a deal.

Considering that the big question in terms of giving Smoove a long-term deal has to be his maturity (after the latter half of last season), why not see how it plays out.

As to the comment above about what does Smoove have to lose....the answer is a lot. He could potentially suffer a major injury (which we all hope doesn't happen) or be the next guy to find out that the money's not there in the NBA today (just like Varejao did).

[Johnnybravo4]

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I happen to place great value on Smith but the market WILL set the price and the Hawks WILL pay it. The market hasn't yet set the price.

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Somebody tell me when the market sets the price LOWER?

What happens when a team like LA says to Kobe, "Hey we are going to trade some stiff in exchange for expiring contracts and then we will offer Josh Smith 60 million to be your Scottie Pippen.

Lakers....Hawks......I wonder who he'd pick?

Only loser teams play games with their marquee players. A winning organization would not only pay Josh, but they'd convince other players like Childress and Marvin to take less in order to stay on the team.