Joe Smith officially signs

[coachx]

Great news.

Glad we were able to get him for the minimum. Way to go Sund ! Welcome Joe Smith.

This will be the deepest Hawks team in years. Crawford, ZaZa, Evans, and Smith are 4 solid proven veterans. Add in a 1st round pick with loads of upside in Teague and the bench is looking pretty nice.

Edited August 26, 2009 by coachx

[jerrywest]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/61295/20090825/hawks_sign_joe_smith/

:line dance: :friends1:

10 reasons Joe Smith is what the Dr ordered.

10. Pick and Roll.

9. He plays bigger than his size.

8. The elite teams get free agents like Joe for Veteran minimum. Cleveland wanted him. Hawks haven't signed a FA like Joe in a long time. Hopefully, this will open a flood gate in the next few years.

7. He signed for Veteran Minimum which means the league will pay most of his salary and the Hawks will pay only the portion equal to rookie-miniumum.

6. He can play defense and offense for 10-15 minutes a game at a very high level. The other team won't make a run when two of our starting big men are in foul trouble.

5. He signed for 1 year (short contract- no consequence on future cap space)

4. Playoff tested. He was injured against the Hawks, but he was awesome against the Pistons in the 1st round.

3. His midrange shots will open up the lane for JJ/Crawford/Teague to penetrate.

2. Woody has nothing to teach him. Joe will work fine on autopilot.

1. Joe will guide Josh/Al/Zaza on how to play each player in the NBA. Their developments could make quantum big leaps playing with Joe.

[capstone21]

While I'm very happy that we signed Smith it makes me sad to read that we had to woo a guy for a month to sign a 1 year vet minimum contract when he likely didn't have too many, if any, other options beside retirement. Again though I'm thrilled that we got him, I just wish we had an easier time of making it happen.

I think he just really wanted to sign with Cleveland. He waited until the Powe signing to come here.

[Vol4ever]

I think he just really wanted to sign with Cleveland. He waited until the Powe signing to come here.

I think your dead on. I am glad we got him and now that we added Crawford we have another scorer off the bench that can light it up. We are a better team at this point.

[NJHAWK]

Its always nice to get a guy off the nba scrap heap while the teams ahead of you are signing good players.

[ILOVEmyWIFEtoo]

With this finally in the books, Do we go young now? ---- Siler @Center... Hunter @ PF.... Rio West @ Guard.... I don't think we can get any better this year then we are now, so going with some youngs to be groomed by Joe Smitty would be a plus. If he can play deep into the bench then we are fresh come playoffs.

Bibby ..... Teague..... Rio

JJ...... Crawley.....Rio

Marv...... Mo

J Smoove..... J Smitty.... Hunter

AL...... Zaza...... Siler......Morris

Gives us Flexibility and practice Depth (Very Important)..... We will be better!

Great Job Sund!

[ATLSmith]

I like this signing for this year. I won't have to poop my pants this year if Smoove gets injured (knock on wood).

I'm sure we're looking to upgrade at backup PF next year. The Hawks are going to be rediculously good in 2011 if you ask me. Teague will have a year under his belt and I'm sure (hope) there will be some big moves next summer.

[jerrywest]

I like this signing for this year. I won't have to poop my pants this year if Smoove gets injured (knock on wood).

I'm sure we're looking to upgrade at backup PF next year. The Hawks are going to be rediculously good in 2011 if you ask me. Teague will have a year under his belt and I'm sure (hope) there will be some big moves next summer.

I like the fact that Sund set up contracts for Bibby/Marv/Zaza in a way that they take pay cuts in 2010 so that we have more money in the free agency bonanza.

[JackB1]

I can't believe how deep our bench is right now!!!!

Evans, Crawford, Joe Smith, Teague, Zaza..... wow!

We could loose our starting 5 and still put a decent team out there.

Rick Sund has done an OUTSTANDING job!

[AHF]

I do love this signing and on the SF issue think that Mo, Josh Smith and JJ will all get some minutes (and should) at SF this season depending on matchups, etc.

[jerrywest]

I do love this signing and on the SF issue think that Mo, Josh Smith and JJ will all get some minutes (and should) at SF this season depending on matchups, etc.

Among JJ,Josh, Mo and perhaps Korolev, if he is good enough in the traing camp, we have the back-up SF well covered. With Joe Smith shooting his mid range jumpers, Josh can be much more effective at the small forward position next year.

[benhillboy]

I welcome Joe with open arms. He is a seasoned vet, even if he has underachieved every second he was on the court for his career. Block a couple shots, alter a lot more, drain a couple jumpers, maintain flawless defensive positioning, hustle, and play with heart is all I ask. Every coach he's ever played for would've probably liked to see a lot more, but I don't believe any can say he detracted. You can never have too much length. Let's go Hawks.

Edited August 26, 2009 by benhillboy

[jerrywest]

Hollinger on Joe Smith:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=788&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fplayers%2fhollinger%3fplayerId%3d788

2007-08 season: Sometimes reputation trumps performance. Smith split his year between Chicago and Cleveland, badly outplayed Ben Wallace in both cities, yet sat behind the more heralded Wallace throughout the postseason.

But let's dwell on the positives. Smith was as active and productive offensively as he's been in eons, averaging 18.1 points per 40 minutes while shooting a decent percentage from the floor. He was remarkably error-free, ranking sixth among power forwards in turnover ratio, and for the season he was 20th at his position in player efficiency rating.

Smith was outstanding on short and midrange jumpers, taking more than two-thirds of his shots from his distance and knocking down 45.6 percent. The unusual part is that he still managed to draw fouls at a decent rate, so his true shooting percentage stayed solid.

Scouting report: Smith is phenomenal at taking charges; last season he drew 40 offensive fouls; on a per-minute basis, only six players drew more. The rest of his defense isn't quite as accomplished, as his thin frame allows bigger forwards to push him around under the basket, but he's an active help defender and gathers his share of rebounds.

Smith is a low-mistake offensive player who is a strong shooter for his size. He's very comfortable shooting jumpers from either elbow and can also shoot short-range jump hook shots with either hand. Smith has trouble establishing good post position, however, so a lot of his close-range shots come off the catch.

2008-09 outlook: Smith was traded to Oklahoma City in the Mo Williams trade, his sixth team in the past two and a half years, and he might be adding a seventh soon. He's a veteran big man with an expiring contract, and on a rebuilding team like the Thunder the clear plan is to deal him by the trade deadline and get a draft pick or young player in return -- just as they did last season with Kurt Thomas.

While he's around, Smith will push for the starting power forward job and at worst will play a major role off the bench. His skills are subtle, but between knocking down midrange jumpers and drawing offensive fouls, he's been nearly as good in his 30s as he was in his 20s.

[DrReality]

Great report on Smith. Makes me wonder if we were to have a perfect storm and MV, Smoove, Craw, et al had their best seasons, we could be scary. But the thing that really scares me in this is our coaching, or lack of it.

[ATLSmith]

Great report on Smith. Makes me wonder if we were to have a perfect storm and MV, Smoove, Craw, et al had their best seasons, we could be scary. But the thing that really scares me in this is our coaching, or lack of it.

Well, this is the year Woody earns his paycheck. It will be interesting to see the team dynamic and how everyone responds to the coach with veteran players on the team.

[ATLNY7]

I'm glad Joe Smith finally got signed.