OT: Josh Smith signs offer sheet with Grizzlies, 5 yr/$58M Options

[dasox24]

Not yet sure what to think of this for the Grizzlies if the Hawks don't match. On one hand, they just grabbed a superbly talented up and coming player. On the other hand, it looks like he'll have to play a little out of position at PF b/c the Grizz already have Gay locked up at SF. He's a little undersized, but not terribly at 6'9''. He should be able to handle it fine... Either way, it definitely adds some legit talent to their roster, and could help them make a trade for a legit big man if they wanted to down the line.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3525609

Hawks' Smith signs Grizzlies' 5-year, $58M offer sheet, report says

Atlanta Hawks restricted free agent Josh Smith has signed a five-year, $58 million offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.

The Hawks will have seven days to match the offer, which the report said came unexpectedly from the Grizzlies.

Atlanta has said it would match any offer for the 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward, despite offseason overtures from the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Clippers, neither of which panned out.

Smith quickly took advantage of his restricted free-agent status, spending July 2 visiting the 76ers, a day after teams could start negotiations with free agents.

The 22-year-old Smith toured the city and visited the Wachovia Center with team officials.

But the 76ers opted to sign restricted free-agent Elton Brand, and the Clippers made a trade with the Denver Nuggets for Marcus Camby.

Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. said shortly after the season he was committed to keeping Smith.

Smith's numbers have increased in each of his four NBA seasons since Atlanta made him a first-round pick out of high school in 2004. He averaged 17.2 points and 8.2 rebounds last year and helped the Hawks make the playoffs.

[dasox24]

By the way, this may be an unpopular statement I'm about to make, but... I think I'd rather have Josh Smith on our team than Deng, especially when you look at their contracts. Oh, and if Ben Gordon was to accept the same deal as Smith's, would you sign him to it? Personally, I feel Smith is a better player than Gordon and BG shouldn't get that much of a contract. But, with how things are looking, would you do it?

[SoxFan1]

Conley-Mayo-Gay-Smith-Gasol with Crittenton, Arthur, Milicic, Warrick, Lowry, and Jaric coming off the bench.

It's as talented a lineup as there is, maybe outside of Portland.

[dasox24]

Conley-Mayo-Gay-Smith-Gasol with Crittenton, Arthur, Milicic, Warrick, Lowry, and Jaric coming off the bench.

It's as talented a lineup as there is, maybe outside of Portland.

Absolutely. I really hope the Hawks don't match b/c I really want the Grizzlies to have a good season. It would be great for the city and its fans, and most importantly, I would be able to enjoy some good basketball when I'm home over Christmas break, lol.

[eddog2]

As much as I like Deng, I'd much rather have Josh Smith. Josh Smith has superstar potential. He's not a great shooter but his athletic ability is 2nd to none.

I wish the Bulls would have looked into a sign and trade for Smith. I think Deng would be a better fit for their system then Smith is. They really could use a mid-range player like Deng to complement Horford & Johnson.

Smith could have played the 4 for the Bulls and we could have shifted Tyrus to the 3. Then if we would have made a trade for Brad Miller we'd have a pretty good starting 5. Or consider if we traded could trade Kirk, Noah, Nocioni & 2 future picks for Amare & a throw in playerl. Do you think the Suns would do that? We'd still would have had to pick up a big defensive backup center but we'd be sick.

Anyway I think the Suns would be a better team with Noah, Kirk, & Nocioni. They instantly bring over 3 defensive minded players and Kirk & Nocioni would be able to hit the 3. Shaq already clogs the middle. Noah would thrive playing next to Shaq and Kirk could play the SG or would be an excellent backup to Nash who needs to conserve his body and play less minutes. The draft picks would also help the Suns rebuild which they will likely have to rebuild in the next few years when Shaq & Nash get ready for retirement. Kirk, Noah, & Nocioni all have at least 5 years of good years left and would keep the Suns just a big free agent pickup or 2 away from being competitive for years to come. It would also give them the option to trade both Diaw & Barbosa in the future.

Imagine what this lineup would have been like. We'd instantly be the best fast break team in the league.

Amare
Smith/Gooden
Tyrus/(Thabo)
Gordon/Hughes
Rose/Thabo

[SoxFan1]

As much as I like Deng, I'd much rather have Josh Smith. Josh Smith has superstar potential. He's not a great shooter but his athletic ability is 2nd to none.

I wish the Bulls would have looked into a sign and trade for Smith. I think Deng would be a better fit for their system then Smith is. They really could use a mid-range player like Deng to complement Horford & Johnson.

Smith could have played the 4 for the Bulls and we could have shifted Tyrus to the 3. Then if we would have made a trade for Brad Miller we'd have a pretty good starting 5. Or consider if we traded could trade Kirk, Noah, Nocioni & 2 future picks for Amare & a throw in playerl. Do you think the Suns would do that? We'd still would have had to pick up a big defensive backup center but we'd be sick.

Anyway I think the Suns would be a better team with Noah, Kirk, & Nocioni. They instantly bring over 3 defensive minded players and Kirk & Nocioni would be able to hit the 3. Shaq already clogs the middle. Noah would thrive playing next to Shaq and Kirk could play the SG or would be an excellent backup to Nash who needs to conserve his body and play less minutes. The draft picks would also help the Suns rebuild which they will likely have to rebuild in the next few years when Shaq & Nash get ready for retirement. Kirk, Noah, & Nocioni all have at least 5 years of good years left and would keep the Suns just a big free agent pickup or 2 away from being competitive for years to come. It would also give them the option to trade both Diaw & Barbosa in the future.

Imagine what this lineup would have been like. We'd instantly be the best fast break team in the league.

Amare
Smith/Gooden
Tyrus/(Thabo)
Gordon/Hughes
Rose/Thabo

While were at it, we can bring back Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan for bench depth then trade Hughes, Gordon, and a 1st for Kobe. We'd be set.

NOTE: Thats my facetious way of saying Amare will not be a Bull any time soon,

[ZoomSlowik]

I can't see them being terribly interested in Deng, they've never been a team that's big on shelling out major money and Marvin Williams basically does everything Deng does only not quite as well. Given their ownership problems they might not even match Smith's deal.

I'm not as big a Josh Smith fan as some. he's basically a good version of Tyrus and seems to have more value to a fantasy team than his real one. His athleticism is obviously elite, but everything else is fairly average. He's not a good shooter at all (29.1% on 2-point jumpers, and he shoots a fairly large number, dragging down his FG%), and his turnovers are pretty high for a guy that isn't a primary ball-handler. He can be an absolutely dominant player at times, but he can also get jumper-happy and put up 3-13 nights just as easily. He doesn't really strike me as a true star player, but as more of a Gerald Wallace that'll put up nice numbers on bad teams, or maybe a Shawn Marion-type complementary player on a good team. He's still young, but I have a hard time seeing him making a quantam leap as a shooter, and it'd be hard to drastically improve his scoring without that. If we simply traded Deng for him our team would get more exciting but I don't think it'd get a whole lot better. Now put the two of them on the same roster somehow and that could be another story, or pair him with Rudy Gay in an uptempo system and a pass-first PG (though dividing the shots between him, Gay and Mayo could get interesting ).

[ZoomSlowik]

Hawks match offer sheet