The Games Have Begun(Sekou)

[Zone034life]

ajc.com The games have begun

By Sekou K Smith | Monday, June 23, 2008, 10:21 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

SMYRNA - We’re just days away from the start of the NBA’s annual free agent circus/frenzy and the rumors circulating about Hawks forward Josh Smith have already begun to circulate.

And this is only the beginning. Expect the rumors to increase before they subside, as Smith’s name will be tossed around from LA to New York and all points in between before it’s all over.

Both ESPN.com and SI.com have made mention of the fact that the Hawks have to either be willing to pay Smith a salary starting in the $11 million range or risk losing him to another team (Philadelphia) or others seeking a potential sign-and-trade deal to snatch away one of the Hawks’ major players.

It should be noted that the Hawks have stated repeatedly that their top priority this summer is to take care of contracts for both Smith and Josh Childress, the franchise’s first two draft picks that will have to be taken care of since the Atlanta Spirit group took over and began their painstaking rehabilitation of the franchise.

Talking about doing that and actually doing it are two very different issues.

The worst part of this whole affair is that the Hawks never had to get to this point. They could have cooked up an extension for Smith last October (it would have taken probably $55 million over five years) and avoided the nervous drama that will ensue between now and the deadline for the Hawks to match (or not) a deal thrown at Smith by another team.

The debate will rage on during that time about whether or not Smith is “worth” the money that will be tossed around. I think that’s a useless debate.

You are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for your services. In the NBA, like every other endeavor, the market decides what you’re worth. And the teams in the NBA determine the market (the Hawks could have determined Smith’s worth on their own last October and now they’ll have to react to the market).

Having watched teams pay dearly for evaluation mistakes of their own players (the Suns have spent twice as much money the past three years trying to correct the mistake of allowing Joe Johnson to leave than they would have spent just paying Johnson), I have no reason to believe the trend will suddenly end this summer.

It’s a delicate balance, trying to get a handle on the value of your own players. But if you draft them, develop them properly and foster the growth we’ve seen in both Smith and Childress, why would you allow either of them to go?

The logic there isn’t clear. Balk at price tags all you want but keep in mind that no one wins a championship, or competes for one really, without spending some cash. It just doesn’t happen (check the Celtics’ payroll if you don’t believe it).

Sure, you have to spend wisely. And you have to make tough choices along the way. But you also have to remember that your window for competing in the NBA with a particular group tends to be short. And you can’t afford major mistakes during that window of opportunity, at least not too many major mistakes.

The Hawks are at an extremely crucial stage of their development as a franchise. They’ll have tough decisions to make not only this summer but also every summer going forward (Marvin Williams, Zaza Pachulia and Joe Johnson will all be eligible for extensions next summer and Al Horford after that and so on and so on).

So the foundation has to be solid. It has to be (and there is no right or wrong decision regarding Smith and Childress because they are restricted free agents and if you have to part with either one of them you have the ability to get something in return, just make dang sure what you get in return works as well as what you gave up).

The bottom line is this; you pay either way. You can do it with your cash or possibly your future. But either way you have to pay.

[Packfill]

The ball is in the ASG's court. Let's hope they are ready to play!

[jhay610]

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and the

rumors circulating

about Hawks forward Josh Smith have

already begun to circulate

.

nice, sekou. how bout giving it the once-over b4 posting?

[hawkman]

Sekou is right. It should have never gotten to this point. This could've been done last year early in the season. Hopefully, the ASG does the right thing and keeps this guy. I'd love to see this team maintain some continuity from last season.

[jhay610]

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The debate will rage on during that time about

whether or not Smith is “worth” the money

that will be tossed around.

I think that’s a useless debate.

You are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for your services.

In the NBA, like every other endeavor, the market decides what you’re worth.

Somebody pm this quote directly to Hotlanta. He needs to read that and marinate on it for a while.

[AHF]

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Sekou is right. It should have never gotten to this point. This could've been done last year early in the season. Hopefully, the ASG does the right thing and keeps this guy. I'd love to see this team maintain some continuity from last season.

I would have liked to have seen this contract done already but I don't think this is such a shame. Teams like Detroit can circulate rumors all they want. They have zero leverage. In fact, they have to convince the Hawks to deal with them to make anything happen so we only do the deal if they are giving up so much that we are willing to let Josh go because we like what they are offering. That is probably an argument for not signing Josh - to keep open the option of a fantastic S&T.

The risk comes from Philly and Memphis and they don't have so much cap room that I wouldn't match an offer.

[Hawk88]

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Sekou is right. It should have never gotten to this point. This could've been done last year early in the season. Hopefully, the ASG does the right thing and keeps this guy. I'd love to see this team maintain some continuity from last season.

I don't agree, if the Hawks had signed Smith earlier, he would probably be bitching that he is underpaid and demanding a trade. That is my gut feeling.

Hawk88

[Guest Walter]

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The worst part of this whole affair is that the Hawks never had to get to this point. They could have cooked up an extension for Smith last October (it would have taken probably $55 million over five years)...

It would Appear that Sekou also realized how inadequate the ASG offer was last year. How was this Smith's fault again, given Philly looks to be offering $2.5 million per more than we did? It would seem some serious low balling miscalculation went into the offer for JS last off-season.

W

[Admin]

If Philly is offering 11 million to start and we offered 9 million (A YEAR AGO) then that's only a 2 million dollar difference and considering it was a year ago and it was still 9 MILLION PER YEAR I would hardly call that a low-ball offer.

Again, I didn't say this was Smith's fault. I said that he is equally as responsible for being a RFA as the ASG are. They offered him 45 freaking million dollars and he turned it down. How on earth could he ever live on that?

[DrReality]

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If Philly is offering 11 million to start and we offered 9 million (A YEAR AGO) then that's only a 2 million dollar difference and considering it was a year ago and it was still 9 MILLION PER YEAR I would hardly call that a low-ball offer.

Again, I didn't say this was Smith's fault. I said that he is equally as responsible for being a RFA as the ASG are. They offered him 45 freaking million dollars and he turned it down. How on earth could he ever live on that?

I know hindsight is 20/20 but if they would have offered say 10 mil a year last fall that might have saved them a ton of money.

[Watchman]

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Quote:

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The debate will rage on during that time about

whether or not Smith is “worth” the money

that will be tossed around.

I think that’s a useless debate.

You are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for your services.

In the NBA, like every other endeavor, the market decides what you’re worth.

Somebody pm this quote directly to Hotlanta. He needs to read that and marinate on it for a while.

Yeah, the Hawks are living proof of that with Jon Koncak.

[jhay610]

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If Philly is offering 11 million to start and we offered 9 million (A YEAR AGO) then that's only a 2 million dollar difference and considering it was a year ago and it was still 9 MILLION PER YEAR I would hardly call that a low-ball offer.

Again, I didn't say this was Smith's fault. I said that he is equally as responsible for being a RFA as the ASG are. They offered him 45 freaking million dollars and he turned it down. How on earth could he ever live on that?

55>>>>45

It's not his duty to give us a hometown discount. I don't think he is regretting his decision at all to balk at the 45 deal and test the market.

[Admin]

I'm sure he is thrilled with his decision now, but what if he had blown out his knee this past year. He would be royally f*cked! He took a huge gamble but it looks like it will pay off. I'm happy for him, but I hope we sign him for as cheap as we can as every dollar saved will help pay for other players over the life of his contract.