OK... NOW....

[Diesel]

70% of Squawkers believe that Smith will not resign with us.If you are the owners... and you agreed with this belief... How long do you wait before you trade him? And what do you expect back?

[AHF]

I haven't answered your poll yet as I need a clarification. You ask whether Josh will be willing to resign in one place and whether he will in another. He may be willing to resign but not end up resigning for any number of reasons such as the Hawks trade him first or the Hawks don't offer him enough money. Is a fair read of your poll question whether it is more likely than not that Josh resigns with the Hawks if they don't trade him and they are ready to come after him aggressively with money equal or greater than that offered by other teams?If that isn't a fair reading, can you give a bit more color on a fair reading? Thanks!

[Diesel]

I haven't answered your poll yet as I need a clarification. You ask whether Josh will be willing to resign in one place and whether he will in another. He may be willing to resign but not end up resigning for any number of reasons such as the Hawks trade him first or the Hawks don't offer him enough money.

Is a fair read of your poll question whether it is more likely than not that Josh resigns with the Hawks if they don't trade him and they are ready to come after him aggressively with money equal or greater than that offered by other teams?

If that isn't a fair reading, can you give a bit more color on a fair reading?

Thanks!

For the most part, the question is if the Hawks offer Smoove a quality extension, will he resign with us?

Right now, he's making 13.2. I predict that 14 Million will be the start of a new contract via extension. If that's the case, then it puts him in the 85 Million over 5 years range.

That being the case, will he resign with our or would he turn us down?

[DJlaysitup]

70% of Squawkers believe that Smith will not resign with us.If you are the owners... and you agreed with this belief... How long do you wait before you trade him? And what do you expect back?

It's obvious - a decent quality center. We have gone over and over in the past D that this team has to establish an identity. With JJ's contract (and his overall slowness) the only thing we can do is go big and 1/2 court.I would trade a package of Smoove and Teague (throw in Marvin if you can) for a center and a reasonable quality (true) PG. Forget the semi-fast break game - go low and slow. Pick and roll with AL and kick out to JJ. Get a coach who can work with AL on establishing position as deep as he can.To be honest - this team - the Hawks - even with our poor drafting - has the tools to make a solid NBA contender. All they need is somebody smart at the helm. Edited May 28, 2012 by DJlaysitup

[AHF]

For the most part, the question is if the Hawks offer Smoove a quality extension, will he resign with us?

Right now, he's making 13.2. I predict that 14 Million will be the start of a new contract via extension. If that's the case, then it puts him in the 85 Million over 5 years range.

That being the case, will he resign with our or would he turn us down?

I'll have to think about it. I am pretty certain the ASG will not authorize any $85M extension offer. They can surprise me on this, but if they did Josh would have to really think about that and I think there is a good chance he would take it. Like I said, I don't believe he is going to receive that offer, though.

[thecampster]

For the most part, the question is if the Hawks offer Smoove a quality extension, will he resign with us?

Right now, he's making 13.2. I predict that 14 Million will be the start of a new contract via extension. If that's the case, then it puts him in the 85 Million over 5 years range.

That being the case, will he resign with our or would he turn us down?

Someone out there will max him. There are too many people that will need someone after next year. 14 million won't do it.

[Diesel]

Someone out there will max him. There are too many people that will need someone after next year. 14 million won't do it.

You must be Smoove's Agent or his hypeman.

[Admin]

You must be Smoove's Agent or his hypeman.

Just the same fear that many had last time he was a FA and then got far less than people feared. Some will fear he's going to get more than that 85 but in the new CBA he's not going to get more than that since teams can't afford to ignore the luxury tax anymore by having 2 guys eat up half of their cap.

[Wretch]

Sitting there watching the Spurs/Thunder game...there's so much right on the floor. People look at the teams that are getting to the promised land and they pick one or two things that those teams have and they say, "We're good. We just need [that thing]." I have listened to that song and dance for too long. It's like looking at a well built dude in the gym...with a headband and then saying, "If I could just get a headband like that, I'd be RIPPED."

These teams are being led by HoF coaches. Their bench is deep with specialists of every kind. They are throwing at us pairs of all pro players. They're focused, they play hard defense, they do all the dirty work, they rebound, and hustle... They're stars get into the faces of the young guys (anybody see Parker and Duncan, on the court, giving praise and counsel the other night?) All that.

And we counter with this guy doing this:

Here we are again talking about decent bigs and a new coach, a better PG, as if that's all this team needs. Who is this magical PG that's going to turn Horford into the next Karl Malone? How do we even know if that's going to be a viable option for us?

A) That's the sort of thing you should try to find out years ago when you're building a team. And...

B) With Josh being your leading or 2nd leading shot taker, how exactly are we supposed to build this team around Pick-N-Horf?

Joe has peaked. Marvin does not exist. Horford is good, but not great. Who knows what Teague is... And Josh is our response to the elite of the NBA. We're sitting here discussing a broken formula and owners who don't care anything about winning (or are just absolutely clueless). It's a f*ckin' joke.

Is Josh going to leave?

They could have and they should have already extended him. If they were serious about winning, they would keep him. They also should have tried to bring in the right coach for him. They should have tried to build the right team around him. But they are not committed to him and they're not committed to the team. What will these guys do? Man...who the f*ck knows...?

On one hand, they know the ONLY personality that this team has is Josh and they're cheap as hell. So they may be thinking that they can ride out another season, see how he plays, see how the market responds to him, and make him some bullshit offer because they think he'll stay.

On the other hand, they'll be afraid of the luxury tax (as always) and we won't see any quality pick ups to help him or the team....so maybe they'll just cave and deal him at the deadline? They won't get much in an SnT (if that's even an option...I'm not to versed on the CBA these days and the changes are a bit confusing. Wasn't there something half-assed done about players holding a team hostage ala Carmelo?).

In any case, I see no good coming out of next season. This is not a championship core and I'd honestly start preparing this team for post-2014. I would trade one of Horf/Smoove for some young(er-ish) talent with potential, regardless of position or a high draft pick. I'd tell the basketball world to go f*ck itself otherwise, because both are worth that and more.

What upsets me though, is that somebody is going to figure out how to properly coach/use Smoove and it will seem so simple to us when we watch it unfold. He will take a team to the next level, but it will be MUCH closer to the basket and on the opposite end of the court where he does it. Of course, it will be just another black eye for us and fans will blame management for letting him go. Turning up the dial on fan apathy for this franchise.

[Diesel]

Sitting there watching the Spurs/Thunder game...there's so much right on the floor. People look at the teams that are getting to the promised land and they pick one or two things that those teams have and they say, "We're good. We just need [that thing]." I have listened to that song and dance for too long. It's like looking at a well built dude in the gym...with a headband and then saying, "If I could just get a headband like that, I'd be RIPPED."

These teams are being led by HoF coaches. Their bench is deep with specialists of every kind. They are throwing at us pairs of all pro players. They're focused, they play hard defense, they do all the dirty work, they rebound, and hustle... They're stars get into the faces of the young guys (anybody see Parker and Duncan, on the court, giving praise and counsel the other night?) All that.

And we counter with this guy doing this:

Here we are again talking about decent bigs and a new coach, a better PG, as if that's all this team needs. Who is this magical PG that's going to turn Horford into the next Karl Malone? How do we even know if that's going to be a viable option for us?

A) That's the sort of thing you should try to find out years ago when you're building a team. And...

B) With Josh being your leading or 2nd leading shot taker, how exactly are we supposed to build this team around Pick-N-Horf?

Joe has peaked. Marvin does not exist. Horford is good, but not great. Who knows what Teague is... And Josh is our response to the elite of the NBA. We're sitting here discussing a broken formula and owners who don't care anything about winning (or are just absolutely clueless). It's a f*ckin' joke.

Is Josh going to leave?

They could have and they should have already extended him. If they were serious about winning, they would keep him. They also should have tried to bring in the right coach for him. They should have tried to build the right team around him. But they are not committed to him and they're not committed to the team. What will these guys do? Man...who the f*ck knows...?

On one hand, they know the ONLY personality that this team has is Josh and they're cheap as hell. So they may be thinking that they can ride out another season, see how he plays, see how the market responds to him, and make him some bullshit offer because they think he'll stay.

On the other hand, they'll be afraid of the luxury tax (as always) and we won't see any quality pick ups to help him or the team....so maybe they'll just cave and deal him at the deadline? They won't get much in an SnT (if that's even an option...I'm not to versed on the CBA these days and the changes are a bit confusing. Wasn't there something half-assed done about players holding a team hostage ala Carmelo?).

In any case, I see no good coming out of next season. This is not a championship core and I'd honestly start preparing this team for post-2014. I would trade one of Horf/Smoove for some young(er-ish) talent with potential, regardless of position or a high draft pick. I'd tell the basketball world to go f*ck itself otherwise, because both are worth that and more.

What upsets me though, is that somebody is going to figure out how to properly coach/use Smoove and it will seem so simple to us when we watch it unfold. He will take a team to the next level, but it will be MUCH closer to the basket and on the opposite end of the court where he does it. Of course, it will be just another black eye for us and fans will blame management for letting him go. Turning up the dial on fan apathy for this franchise.

While I am not as pessimistic as you, I do believe that changes have to be made. I think that the core as is is not strong enough. When you look at our weakness, it's not genius level thinking to see that we have no inside play on the offensive side of the floor. For years, you couldn't find a championship team without a inside scoring presence. And here we are in BK's experiment trying to go without one.

Yes, Al has PNR potential. Yes, Josh can score inside from time to time. However, when you watch them play... that's not what they do.

I also have a problem with people who suggest that we will watch Smoove blow up somewhere else and that we need the right coach to "Reach him". This has been the theme song for at least 5 years. There's a stubborn about Smoove that goes beyond coaching. He doesn't change because he doesn't want to. Otherwise, he would have changed a long time ago. He's been mentored by Antoine Walker, Al Harrington, and TMac. You can imagine what he has gained from those guys. He seems jealous of Al Horf. If I were to sit down with him, I would say... Smoove you're definitely better than Horf... but Horf excels in being a team player. You excel in being a renegade.

[Wretch]

I'm not a pessimist by nature. I'm exactly the opposite and have always been that guy with this team. The thing is, I'm a problem solver. Once I identify an issue, I focus on it until I find the root of it. It's funny because when you made that first comment about Marvin...that he was likely end up as nothing more than a better Tim Thomas, that is when I started to REALLY scrutinize the talent on this team. And it scared me....

The root of this team's woes is simple:

[*]Our ownership is incompetent and unwilling to spend.

[*]We still have BK's core - which was poor design from the start.

[*]We are not talented enough to slug it out in a 7 game series with the best - and prevail.

[*]One of our "big guns" has no business taking that many shots PERIOD. Let alone so many long 2's that he cannot hit.

That is the truth. That is the root of our hardware failure. We're wasting our time trying to patch it up. Most teams don't waste this much time and that is why we share the dubious distinction with the Clippers of being unable to make the conference finals (Lamewatch 2012: We're one of two now because the Coyotes advanced).

When he leaves, Smoove basically has three options regardless of where he ends up:

His outside shooting is horrid. It can only hurt any team that he plays for. So, option #1 is for him to play for a team like ours where he'll be a big fish and can do what he wants. As long as he's the #1 or #2 option on that team shooting 1/4 of his shots from 16'...that team will get no further than we did.

Option #2 is for him to take this same business to an established core, peaking at the conference finals. This is a team with a respected coach, players who know their roles, and team leaders that put guys in their place. Josh ignoring the PG and continuing to shoot those shots will get him BENCHED or flat out traded. Nobody is going to put up with that shit and Josh will find himself a veteran journeyman.

Option #3 is for him to play the game the way we want him to. Doing all those things he does all over the court, focusing on his rebounding and defense, and letting go of the bad habits - skulking, refusal to give the ball up on the break, and ridiculous long 2's.

Unless he miraculously develops a consistent outside game, this is the future of Josh Smith - whether he understand it or not. I would think that changing environments will wake him up. Of course, he'll talk about his new organization as if they did everything right for him and we did everything wrong. But I have to think that it'll click.

The reason I think that is because the root of his stubbornness is simply his presence here. His hometown, the coaches he's had, the players he's been running beside. His ego has gone unchecked for 8 years. It's not just a coach that's going to change him. it's a new environment. Josh has no idea what it's like being put in his place by players that are BETTERthan him. Players that might have even already WON something. He has no idea what it's like to walk into the huddle with these players all on the same page, along with a coach like Pop, Doc, or Phil...all of them actually putting him in his place.

He'd be dealt so fast...

Now you have to ask, in this scenario does he continue to be hard headed...or does he throw away his career?

[Diesel]

The root of this team's woes is simple:

[*]Our ownership is incompetent and unwilling to spend.

[*]We still have BK's core - which was poor design from the start.

[*]We are not talented enough to slug it out in a 7 game series with the best - and prevail.

[*]One of our "big guns" has no business taking that many shots PERIOD. Let alone so many long 2's that he cannot hit.

I 2 like 2 solve problems.

I won't go on the record about Smoove yet. Although I will say that athleticism eventually goes away.

So here's my take on what you have listed.

1. Ownership is what you say it is, but they have spent a lot of money. Maybe in the wrong places, but we have some value that can be used to get what we need.

2. BK's core bothers me too. Not personally, but the thought behind his Mantra. He neglected the two most important positions on th floor.. PG and C. For almost a decade, we have been hampered by that decision.

3. In the playoffs, every team must be able to play the Halfcourt game. We've never had a PG who could keep the game uptempo. Therefore, in the playoffs we move away from the one overwhelming strength we have on everybody... the transition game. When we lose the transition game, we become... what for it... a Jumpshooting/Isolation team. We played better with Crawford because he was a top notce Jumpshooter/isolation guy and he freed up Joe to be better. However, at the end of the day, we were still dat.

We looked good with the vetmins.. but in the playoffs, we were still dat. The point is that a good playoff team has to have a halfcourt offense. We looked absolutely horrid against Boston. They'd double Joe and we couldn't find the open man. And we reverted back to just putting up an ill advised shot from outside... and they smiled and collected the rebound. Everybody knows this about us. Orlando knew it, Boston Knew it, Chicago Knew it, even Milwaukee knew it. Slow us down... make us play in the halfcourt and pack the lane and we will miss jumpers and shoot ourselves right out of the game. It's amazing because we'd get leads on teams and you can see the script come out... They'd slow us down with pressure on the ball, they force us into a half court game and we had nothing but jumpshots. What made it even worse is Josh gets the ball with 20 seconds on the clock and would take the wide open three and miss. He never understood why he was so wide open. Which goes to the last bullet.

4. Josh never understood why he was wide open outside. He took it as a dare. Everybody else knew it was gameplan. Yes, you can gameplan jealousy.

So I have offered the fix. It's the most realistic trade that is fair and actually would help both teams. Especially if the Lakers could then get D-12.

However, for us, change is long overdue.

[macdaddy]

I'm confused. What's the fix?

[NineOhTheRino]

Think we all know Josh is in the driver seat here. He will set the agenda when he gives management his intentions this summer.Business wise the thing to do would be to trade him ASAP for the best available player/package, but as a fan I hope they decide to start rebuilding the team trough the lottery the day Josh is no longer a Hawk. Josh started this era so it fits that he'd be the one to end it.

[Diesel]

I'm confused. What's the fix?

Josh/Marvin for Pau/1st/Eyenga.

[Buzzard]

Josh/Marvin for Pau/1st/Eyenga.

I like Pau but we will be hurting at the 2 or 3 if we do that. There is no guarantee we will get Hinrich signed especially if gets a quality offer from a contender. MLE or better offer and we may not sign him....luxury tax, luxury tax! Edited May 30, 2012 by Buzzard

[AHF]

I like Pau but we will be hurting at the 2 or 3 if we do that. There is no guarantee we will get Hinrich signed especially if gets a quality offer from a contender. MLE or better offer and we may not sign him....luxury tax, luxury tax!

I think you should mentally write off Hinrich. The odds of him getting resigned are negligible.

[Diesel]

I like Pau but we will be hurting at the 2 or 3 if we do that. There is no guarantee we will get Hinrich signed especially if gets a quality offer from a contender. MLE or better offer and we may not sign him....luxury tax, luxury tax!

2s and 3s are a dime a dozen. We could possibly get back Mean Willie Green, Pargo, and even Crawford. I'm not so sold on that as a concern. An Offensive C with a strong low post game is not a dime a dozen.