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Josh Smith On Trade Rumors, Max Deal, Atlanta

March 10th, 2013 at 12:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

Josh Smith was perhaps the most talked-about target prior to the trade deadline, and though he remained with the Hawks, speculation about his future won't end anytime soon, since he'll be an unrestricted free agent this summer. If Dwight Howard and Chris Paul remain in Los Angeles, there could be no more sough-after commodity on the market than Atlanta's athletic power forward. He recently opened up about where he stands with his career seemingly in transition, and Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News shared some of his comments. We'll pass along the highlights here: 

On his inclusion in trade rumors at the deadline:

"It was total chaos, for two or three weeks. It’s good just to concentrate, knowing where I’m at, at least until the end of the season, and now we can focus on what we can do to make a playoff push and jockeying for position, knowing that it’s a real tight race. It’s good to be able to focus on basketball."

On his worth as a player:

"I’m respected in the NBA as far as the players are concerned. I know I’m a highly attractive player and all I can do is keep playing confident, hold my head high, and not really worry about what the naysayers and haters say."

On his assertion that he deserves a max contract:

"I didn’t just come up and make the statement that I was (a maximum player) — it was a question that I was asked. I gave an honest answer. It’s not added pressure. I’m not going around just stating that. It was definitely a question."

On his impending free agency:

"I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to look ahead. I focus on the present. As long as we do special things during the season or during the postseason, I don’t look into the future. I’ll think about (free agency) when it gets here."

On playing in Atlanta, a city with laid-back fans:

"It is a little difficult. Last year like I was telling everybody, we were ranked No. 1 worst sports town in the United States. It was just the whole city, baseball, football – but football always has a crazy fanbase – it is a little bit difficult. But hopefully we can turn it around sooner than later."

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Kyler On Dwight, Gasol, Monta, Collins

March 9th, 2013 at 9:52pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld took to Twitter tonight to offer thoughts on various questions about the NBA. Here are some of the highlights: 

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Free Agency Links: Millsap, Smith, Bynum, West, Oden

March 9th, 2013 at 12:21pm CST by Sean Highkin

With the trade deadline behind us, some teams are already looking toward this summer's free agent class. Here is a roundup of the latest buzz on that front:

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Stein’s Latest: Josh Smith, Bucks, Mavs, Rockets

March 9th, 2013 at 12:21am CST by Chuck Myron

As rumors fly long past the NBA's trade deadline, Marc Stein of ESPN.com checks in with a Weekend Dime that's heavy on items about Josh Smith, as well as plenty of news about the Rockets. There's even a link between Smith and Houston, so let's dig in. 

  • The Bucks came closest to acquiring Smith at the deadline, as a source tells Stein that Atlanta's talks with the Sixers were never as serious as they were with Milwaukee. 
  • Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier today that the Hawks nearly sent Smith to the Celtics, but Stein hears Atlanta's brass shared the concerns of many NBA teams that C's basketball president Danny Ainge would get cold feet about dealing one of his stars. Paul Pierce would have been sent to the Mavs in the rumored Smith-to-Boston trade.
  • The Hawks preferred to send Smith to the Western Conference, but were rebuffed by the Mavs, who refused to add a draft pick to a package that already included Vince Carter, Chris Kaman, Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright and Dahntay Jones. Many of those Mavericks were also part of the proposed three-way trade with the Celtics.
  • If the Rockets don't land top target Dwight Howard this summer, they'll turn their attention to Smith and Andrew Bynum next, sources tell Stein.
  • Aaron Brooks forfeited just under $3.4MM in his buyout from the Kings, Stein hears. Brooks was set to make $3.396MM next season on a player option, so presumably the buyout simply entailed him declining that option.
  • I took a look in January at all the former Rockets the team still has on the payroll, a list that's since grown even longer, as Stein notes. Houston has waived or bought out 10 players this season, all of whom are still on the team's cap.
  • Stein catches up with Thomas Robinson, who was surprised when the Kings drafted him last year and "shocked" when they traded him to the Rockets at the deadline.
  • There's a schism in thought around the league about whether Monta Ellis is leaning toward staying with the Bucks next season or exercising his early-termination option to hit free agency this summer. 
  • Samuel Dalembert is hitting free agency no matter what, but echoing his report before the trade deadline that Milwaukee was no longer trying to move Dalembert, Stein says the Bucks have some interest in re-signing the Haitian center.
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Celtics Nearly Traded Pierce In Deal For Josh Smith

March 8th, 2013 at 3:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the Celtics stood relatively pat at last month's trade deadline, the team very nearly agreed to a blockbuster deal that would have sent Paul Pierce to Dallas, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski reports that the Celtics, Mavericks, and Hawks discussed a three-way trade that would have seen Boston acquire Josh Smith. However, the Hawks wanted a first-round pick in the deal, which the C's were unwilling to include.

According to Wojnarowski, the package that would have gone to the Hawks from the Mavericks featured Dahntay Jones, Jae Crowder, and Brandan Wright, along with the ability to swap picks in the 2013 draft. Based on Wojnarowski's report, it appears Atlanta was on board with the pieces coming from Dallas, but required one more sweetener from Boston, and the C's didn't relent.

The failed deal makes sense from Atlanta's perspective, since the club was looking to acquire some combination of young talent, expiring contracts, and draft picks in exchange for Smith. From the Celtics' perspective, Danny Ainge presumably felt that Smith was a player in his prime that the team could attempt to re-sign and keep for the long-term, though the GM wasn't willing to pay an exorbitant price to land him.

As for the Mavericks, they would have received another All-Star caliber veteran to pair with Dirk Nowitzki, but both players are in their mid-30s, and keeping Pierce next season would have eaten up the majority of the club's 2013/14 cap space. I feel like there must be a detail missing from the package that would have gone to Atlanta, since the Jones/Crowder/Wright trio earns significantly less than Pierce this season, meaning more salary would have to be included to make the deal work under CBA rules. Perhaps Shawn Marion, who has a $9.07MM player option for '13/14, was also in the proposal, which would have allowed Dallas to retain some financial flexibility in the summer. That's just my speculation though. Including Chris Kaman's expiring contract would also have worked for salary-matching purposes.

After being unable to finalize this deal, all three involved teams made smaller moves. The Celtics acquired Jordan Crawford from the Wizards, the Hawks acquired Jeremy Tyler from the Warriors, and the Mavericks and Hawks swapped Jones and Anthony Morrow.

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Atlantic Rumors: Sixers, Josh Smith, Knicks, White

March 6th, 2013 at 11:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rob Mahoney of SI.com took a look at 18 players on troublesome contracts, and all five Atlantic Division teams have a representative. The last-place Raptors appear to have the most problems, with Rudy Gay, Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan and Landry Fields all on the list, though the Nets, with Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, have multiple entries as well. Here's more from the Atlantic:

  • The Sixers were one of several teams reportedly pursuing Josh Smith at the trade deadline, and John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that the Sixers were "close" to a deal with the Hawks. Philly's interest in the soon-to-be free agent dates back to last season, Mitchell also notes.
  • Jerome Jordan, who spent last season with the Knicks, has been on the team's radar as he plays in the D-League this season, reports Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Zwerling says New York can't sign him this season, though the Knicks could bring him aboard if they go against their plan to re-sign Kenyon Martin when his 10-day contract expires. New York could also waive a player on a guaranteed contract, but that seems unlikely.
  • Andrew Perna of RealGM.com checks in with D.J. White, who finally made his debut for the Celtics tonight after signing a 10-day contract on February 28th. White revealed that he had opportunities to play for NBA teams before heading to China in September. 
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Stein On Hawks, Bucks, Josh Smith, Spurs, Blair

March 1st, 2013 at 8:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

It's more than a week after the trade deadline, but the stream of rumors is far from an end. In his Weekend Dime, Marc Stein of ESPN.com puts a bow on last week's proceedings, and provides some scuttlebutt related to tonight's buyout deadline as well. Here's what Stein has to share:  

  • The Hawks wanted to trade Josh Smith at the deadline, and expected they'd get a deal done. But when the Bucks refused to part with Monta Ellis, Atlanta's main target, or Ersan Ilyasova, Plan B for the Hawks, GM Danny Ferry and company walked away from a package that would have featured Beno Udrih's expiring contract and Luc Mbah a Moute, who has two years and $8.97MM remaining on his deal this season.
  • DeJuan Blair has been seeking a buyout from his expiring $1.054MM contract with the Spurs, but San Antonio is reluctant to grant his wish, fearing he'd sign with another playoff team. If he's not bought out before tonight's 11pm deadline, Blair would be ineligible for the postseason if he signs elsewhere this season. Stein says it's clear that neither Blair nor the Spurs wish to continue their working relationship in 2013/14, so perhaps Blair could be a buyout candidate after tonight, but that's just my speculation.
  • The Spurs were seeking a first-round pick in offers for Blair at the trade deadline, but like everyone seeking that kind of return, they were rebuffed, as Stein notes the increasing value of those picks and the rookie-scale contracts that come with them.
  • According to Stein, industry standard dictates that prospective owners in the midst of a pending sale may designate two or three players they wish the team to keep, freeing current management to trade anyone else on the roster. That makes it easier to understand why the Kings shed salary, including last June's No. 5 overall pick Thomas Robinson, at the deadline, even though we heard the Chris Hansen/Howard Ballmer group from Seattle was consulted before the move was made.
  • Stein sizes up the competing chances of Gregg Popovich and Doc Rivers to become the next coach of Team USA, while adding that USA Basketball executive director Jerry Colangelo wants to wait until he hears from Mike Krzyzewski after the college season to definitely rule out the Coach K's return.
  • The ESPN.com scribe also checks in with new Bucks shooting guard J.J. Redick, who felt like he was going to stay with the Magic right up until they traded him. 
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Kyler On Hawks, Jazz, Udrih, Deadline

February 25th, 2013 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

Nearly 56% of more than 1,560 Hoops Rumors readers suggested last Friday that the Hawks' decision to keep Josh Smith was the most surprising non-move of this year's trade deadline. It wasn't for lack of trying that the Hawks retained Smith though, as Steve Kyler documents in his latest NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld. Kyler echoes a report that we heard on Thursday, indicating that Atlanta was exploring potential Smith trades right up to the 2:00pm deadline before finally deciding that the return wasn't enough. Here's more from Kyler:

  • Both the Hawks and Jazz, who held on to Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson, decided that earning a playoff spot and deciding what to do with their free-agents-to-be at season's end made more sense than giving them up for pennies on the dollar, according to Kyler.
  • Kyler compares Atlanta's and Utah's trade talks to the discussions the Grizzlies were having about Rudy Gay earlier this season. Before Memphis got below the tax line by sending Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington to Cleveland, teams were lowballing the Grizzlies in talks for Gay, making proposals that were "borderline insulting," according to Kyler. It wasn't until the Grizz regained some leverage by getting below the tax that the offers for Gay improved.
  • The Hawks and Jazz are both expecting to have the opportunity to create upwards of $40MM in cap space this summer, which gives them plenty of flexibility to either bring back their own free agents or to facilitate sign-and-trade deals.
  • While Beno Udrih was viewed as a throw-in in the six-player trade that sent J.J. Redick to the Bucks, Udrih tells Kyler that he's hoping his time in Orlando is more than just a pit stop. Udrih has some history with Magic coach Jacque Vaughn, who played with him in San Antonio, and GM Rob Hennigan, who was in the Spurs' front office when the club drafted Udrih.
  • Kyler opines that, for as much talk as there's been about the new CBA's luxury tax penalties discouraging trading, it isn't fair to blame the tax for this year's relatively quiet deadline. I'm inclined to agree — the impact of the repeater tax in particular has been overstated, in my opinion, since not many teams are in position to be taxpayers for four years out of five. Additionally, as Kyler points out, with so many teams poised to have cap space this summer, clubs were reluctant to trade for free-agents-to-be, knowing that those players will have plenty of options and offers in July.
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Odds & Ends: Gay, Grizzlies, Korver, Smith

February 24th, 2013 at 11:14pm CST by Zachary Links

Hoops Rumors would like to wish a speedy recovery to former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley as he remains in a Chicago-area hospital days after suffering a stroke, as Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal details.  Heisley is interested in buying another NBA team, and has recently been linked to the Wolves and Bucks.  Here's more from around the Association..

  • Raptors star Rudy Gay told Chris Mannix of NBC Sports (on Twitter) that he was not happy about leaving the Grizzlies at a time when he felt that they were poised to make a run.  The forward went on to say that the team was shocked and deflated by the Marreese Speights deal (Twitter link).
  • Soon-to-be free agent Kyle Korver is open to a return to the Bulls this summer, he tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who notes that the sharpshooter was one of Derrick Rose's favorites."That’s a great organization, that’s an awesome jersey to put on," Korver said of the Bulls. "Great fans, good team. You only get to be a free agent so many times in a career, so I’ll definitely see what’s all there. But I would absolutely listen to what they’ve got to say."
  • Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, Josh Smith can go back to focusing on contributing to his Hawks team, writes Shams Charania of RealGM.  In fact, for all of his ups and downs with the club over the years, he seems re-energized and upbeat about the second half of the year in Atlanta.
  • Mark Cuban says that Vince Carter was the Mavericks' most in-demand player at the deadline, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com (on Twitter).  "We're lucky to have him," said the owner.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Josh Smith Unlikely To Re-Sign With Hawks

February 21st, 2013 at 4:13pm CST by Sean Highkin

The Atlanta Hawks were unable to complete a trade for Josh Smith before Thursday's trade deadline, after backing out of a deal that would have sent him to Milwaukee. Now, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports that Smith is "highly unlikely" to re-sign with the Hawks this summer, when the nine-year veteran will be an unrestricted free agent.

Zillgitt writes that Smith is likely going to want more money than Hawks GM Danny Ferry is willing to pay him to re-sign. Other teams can offer Smith a maximum of four years and $78MM as a free agent, while the Hawks could offer him five years at $97MM, although they have reportedly been hesitant to offer him that much.

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