Smoove and Free Agency report from Philly

[khaos7]

Philly seems interested in Smoove:

Restricting himself

Atlanta's Josh Smith will be a restricted free agent July 1, and has been frequently mentioned, along with the Los Angeles Clippers' Elton Brand, as a player who could be just what the Sixers need.

"I think about [being restricted] a little bit, but then I leave it in God's hands," Smith said. "I'm just trying to play the season out. If I focus too much on it, I won't be performing at a high level. Let's see what happens in the offseason."

Teams have the right to match offers to their restricted free agents. The Sixers are in a similar situation with Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams.

[Wurider05]

Please don't run me off of this board but would we be that much worse off without him? I mean we would probably have to pick up a big man but I think we maybe better without him. I like the ZAZA-Horford--Marvin--JJ-Bibby lineup. I like Smoove but I wouldn't have a problem if they let him walk. I can't be the only one to feel this way. I really feel that he is the kind of player that will slack off once he gets his money. Please don't flame me!!!

[exodus]

Philly is the worst perimeter shooting team in the league so Smith would fit right in lol.

I just don't see him as the type of player they need and i certainly don't see the hawks letting him go.

[swolehawk2]

You replace Smith with ZaZa and it won't take long to figure out if/how we are worse without him.

[khaos7]

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Please don't run me off of this board but would we be that much worse off without him? I mean we would probably have to pick up a big man but think I we maybe better without him. I like the ZAZA-Horford--Marvin--JJ-Bibby lineup. I like Smoove but I wouldn't have a problem if they let him walk. I can't be the only one to feel this way. I really feel that he is the kind of player that will slack off once he gets his money. Please don't flame me!!!

Zaza replacing Smoove? Man, you're talking about a revolving door in the perimeter. You might as well put a matador inside! Layup city! Seriously, you have to have some kind of threat inside. Josh has his flaws, but guys do pull up and respect his shot blocking ability when he's around. They either alter their shot, do a circus shot, or pass the ball. Only the saavy guys (who know to throw their body into the shot blocker) have found success.

[Wurider05]

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You replace Smith with ZaZa and it won't take long to figure out how we are worse without him.

Actually Horford would be replacing Smoove. Like I said we would definitely need to pick up a big man.

[khaos7]

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You replace Smith with ZaZa and it won't take long to figure out how we are worse without him.

Actually Horford would be replacing Smoove. Like I said we would definitely need to pick up a big man.

And Zaza would be replacing Horford, essentially taking Smoove's place in the line up.

[Johnnybravo4]

I don't understand what is up with Atlanta fans wanting to get rid of all the exciting players on the team. For some reason this town love white bread, no flava, boring, clean cut players. In the last 10-15 years we have ran Nique, Favre, Andruw Jones, Deangelo Hall, Vick (not technically but he was always a devisive issue fan wise) Deion Sanders, Gary Sheffield, Brian Jordan, Hossa, Tkachuck out of town. I don't get it

[swolehawk2]

I don't that team wins a championship before Brand and Bibby are done so why do it? We have to be a little patient with this young team and not break it up before we have a real coach and the Pistons and Celtics are old.

[khaos7]

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I don't understand what is up with Atlanta fans wanting to get rid of all the exciting players on the team. For some reason this town love white bread, no flava, boring, clean cut players. In the last 10-15 years we have ran Nique, Favre, Andruw Jones, Deangelo Hall, Vick (not technically but he was always a devisive issue fan wise) Deion Sanders, Gary Sheffield, Brian Jordan, Hossa, Tkachuck out of town. I don't get it

Don't forget Glavine (he's back now, though) and Justice.

[frosgrim]

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I don't understand what is up with Atlanta fans wanting to get rid of all the exciting players on the team. For some reason this town love white bread, no flava, boring, clean cut players. In the last 10-15 years we have ran Nique, Favre, Andruw Jones, Deangelo Hall, Vick (not technically but he was always a devisive issue fan wise) Deion Sanders, Gary Sheffield, Brian Jordan, Hossa, Tkachuck out of town. I don't get it

You are conflating fans and management in this list. I don't recall anyone wanting Nique gone, nor Sheff, or Tkachuck.

In terms of Favre, he ran himself out of Atlanta. He was drunk or hungover during team meetings. This comes from the Falcons general manager who drafted him.

Jordan was traded for Drew. That trade made sense at the time. Jordan was in decline and was suffering through injuries. He just didn't have the production potential that Drew had.

Hossa- that was a situation created by ownership. Fans liked Hoss. The reality was that Hoss wasn't going to resign with the Thrashers.

In the above list you should throw in Dale Murphy since he was traded. Murphy is about as dull and whitebread as you get.

Dion, Hall and Justice are definately examples of guys getting run out of town. Though Hall's contract combined with the Vick salary cap mess makes the trade is understandable.

In terms of letting Smith go (to the originator of the post). Are you nuts? If we do anything with Smith it has to be a sign and trade for significant talent. Smith is a dynamic player that does a ton of good things for the Hawks. Since he's not a traditional PF or SF, it is hard to find the right matches around him, but I believe we can find the right Center to put into the PF-C rotation (Bogut or Jeff Foster are my main choices).

[Diesel]

I know it's not empirical...

However, when we played the 76ers recently...

Those announcers had something bad or backhanded to say about all of our players. EXCEPT Smoove. They had so much praise for Smoove that I thought he played for them. They admitted that their team fouled Smoove... and that is rare for them because on many calls, they were so pro 76er that it was sickening.

It's possible that 76er brass has told the announce team to say good things about Smoove in order to prepare their fan base for a move on him.

[LOL_Hawks]

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I don't understand what is up with Atlanta fans wanting to get rid of all the exciting players on the team. For some reason this town love white bread, no flava, boring, clean cut players. In the last 10-15 years we have ran Nique, Favre, Andruw Jones, Deangelo Hall, Vick (not technically but he was always a devisive issue fan wise) Deion Sanders, Gary Sheffield, Brian Jordan, Hossa, Tkachuck out of town. I don't get it

You are conflating fans and management in this list. I don't recall anyone wanting Nique gone, nor Sheff, or Tkachuck.

In terms of Favre, he ran himself out of Atlanta. He was drunk or hungover during team meetings. This comes from the Falcons general manager who drafted him.

Jordan was traded for Drew. That trade made sense at the time. Jordan was in decline and was suffering through injuries. He just didn't have the production potential that Drew had.

Hossa- that was a situation created by ownership. Fans liked Hoss. The reality was that Hoss wasn't going to resign with the Thrashers.

In the above list you should throw in Dale Murphy since he was traded. Murphy is about as dull and whitebread as you get.

Dion, Hall and Justice are definately examples of guys getting run out of town. Though Hall's contract combined with the Vick salary cap mess makes the trade is understandable.

In terms of letting Smith go (to the originator of the post). Are you nuts? If we do anything with Smith it has to be a sign and trade for significant talent. Smith is a dynamic player that does a ton of good things for the Hawks. Since he's not a traditional PF or SF, it is hard to find the right matches around him, but I believe we can find the right Center to put into the PF-C rotation (Bogut or Jeff Foster are my main choices).

QFT. On the secondary topic, you made real good points, and to add to that, Sheffield and Andruw basically left for more money (didn't really want Andruw anyways...by the end of his tenure here he had lost all discipline at the plate and was basically trying to hit the ball 800 feet each AB). Same with Deion, Thachuk, and especially Hossa. If Hossa really wanted to stay then he and the dunderhead owners would've came up with a good deal and avoided the trade. I guess to go down the list of players and determining whether or not the fans liked or hated the player...

Nique - Loved. The Hawks thought it was a fantastic idea at the time to trade him for Danny Manning. It workd in the short term, but you could tell that the fans missed Nique.

Favre - Didn't even know he existed. Come on, you've gotta be kidding yourself if you had enough foresight to see that in the early 90s, Buckhead Brett would end up how he is today.

Andruw - Loved. Not as much as Chipper, but the town was in love with him after his WS heroics.

D-Hall - Hated. Once he turned into MeAngelo, that was it for most of the fans here.

Vick - 50/50, even before the dogfighting BS.

Deion - He loves(-d) Atlanta, idk about the fans.

Sheff - SHEFF'S CHEFS!

Jordan - Loved like hell.

Justice - Definitely ran out of town.

Hossa - Loved like hell for the short time he was here.

Thachuk - Loved.

So yeah, the only players I can see that really got ran out of town were D-Hall, Deion, Favre, and Justice and I think Vick would've been ran out eventually. But it's not really the fans' fault more than it is the respective front offices' & players' fault. I'd put more blame on the latter than the former.

As it relates to Smoove moving...Unless we can get equal value back (and a big man), we should try to keep Smoove. He's a good player, AND he's still got room for development? The ceiling on this guy is in the sky.

[khaos7]

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I know it's not empirical...

However, when we played the 76ers recently...

Those announcers had something bad or backhanded to say about all of our players. EXCEPT Smoove. They had so much praise for Smoove that I thought he played for them. They admitted that their team fouled Smoove... and that is rare for them because on many calls, they were so pro 76er that it was sickening.

It's possible that 76er brass has told the announce team to say good things about Smoove in order to prepare their fan base for a move on him.

Thank you Diesal! Remember in the preseason, Sekou Smith said an unknown big time PG said if Josh Smith played with him he'd be an all star? Some people get caught up on what Smith can't do, but fail to appreciate what he can. Plus I have a hard time swallowing trading a 21 year old who is averaging 17.1 points, 8 rebounds, 2.9 blocks per game. Each year, he's improved. He has the desire to improve. I don't think you give up someone with his skillset AND youth. His ceiling is too high. Plus, he has yet to play with a real coach. One must consider those variables before you say trade him.

[jhay610]

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I don't understand what is up with Atlanta fans wanting to get rid of all the exciting players on the team. For some reason this town love white bread, no flava, boring, clean cut players. In the last 10-15 years we have ran Nique, Favre, Andruw Jones, Deangelo Hall, Vick (not technically but he was always a devisive issue fan wise) Deion Sanders, Gary Sheffield, Brian Jordan, Hossa, Tkachuck out of town. I don't get it

I was born and raised in Atlanta and am a die-hard-core all things atlanta sports fanatic and I never once received my voting card for the retention/expulsion of any of these atlanta athletes! You guys actually voted on this stuff??!?!! Why wasn't I made aware of this, and how do I get on the list?

[AHF]

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Please don't run me off of this board but would we be that much worse off without him?

I think we would - both on and off the court. He is a competitor with dynamic athleticism. He is so young it is impossible not to see him continue to improve the mental and skill aspects of his game. I think losing him would be a huge mistake unless we got a real star in his place.

[jhay610]

to the original point. You want to let him walk? For nothing? And to compensate for his absence you want to get Zaza more minutes? No sign-trade, just let a first-round potential all-star who has a ton of upside and is nowhere near his prime move on and flourish for someone else?

For ZAZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!????!! I would jump off my apartment building if that happened.

[LOL_Hawks]

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to the original point. You want to let him walk? For nothing? And to compensate for his absence you want to get Zaza more minutes? No sign-trade, just let a first-round potential all-star who has a ton of upside and is nowhere near his prime move on and flourish for someone else?

For ZAZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!????!!

I would jump off my apartment building if that happened.

Now that would be dumb to just let Smith go. If we just let Smith go and let Zaza just take his place, then we're gonna be right back where we were in the beginning of this decade.

[coachx]

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I think we maybe better without him. I like the ZAZA-Horford--Marvin--JJ-Bibby lineup. I like Smoove but I wouldn't have a problem if they let him walk. I can't be the only one to feel this way. I really feel that he is the kind of player that will slack off once he gets his money.

Let Smoove walk so ZaZa can start. LOL !

INSANE !

You may want to visit a Dr. of some sort. Either your vision is seriously impaired or ........ (I got to be nice).

New Rule ?

The words "ZaZa" and "start" should not be used in the same sentence without the word NOT being present.

[Traceman]

When Smoove is motivated, focused and plays within himself he can have an even bigger impact on the game than JJ does because he does so many different things. His efficiency rating is the highest on the team for a reason. Even if his shot is not falling, he can be a game changing player. He is that rare athlete who can take his game to the next level when he puts his mind to it. Sometimes, he will decide that he is going to get a rebound and he will simply outjump everyone to get it. Sometimes he will decide that he is going to block a shot and he will come from nowhere to send it into the 2nd row.

He needs to work on his focus and he needs to learn how to play hard all the time but his talent is undeniable. Losing him would make us MUCH worse and there is no big man that we could "pick up" who would come CLOSE to replacing what he does. If Smoove does not return, it had better be because we traded him for an All Star caliber player like Elton Brand and with Smoove being only 22 and Brand coming off a serious injury, I'm not even sure I would do that.