Links: Why The Hawks Aren’t Trading Josh Smith
Plus, Pearl Monroe’s greatness?
• A couple of days ago, ESPN Insider Chad Ford, my former arch-nemesis, reported the following on his ESPN.com blog:
The big trade rumor flying around (if you’re already tired of the Shaq-to-Cleveland talk) centers on the Hawks’ Josh Smith. Several league sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks have been working hard the past few weeks to see whether they can find a taker for Smith.
The Hawks have some financial issues coming into the summer. Two key players, Mike Bibby and Marvin Williams, are free agents. So are a few others on the roster — Josh Childress, Zaza Pachulia and Ronald Murray. Although the Hawks would like to keep those players, they can’t afford to pay all of them. That has opened the door to the possibility of trading Smith, who, although talented, has a reputation as a difficult player to coach.
The Hawks have had no problem finding teams interested in Smith. The issue is the whopping $6 million trade kicker attached to his contract. The trade kicker essentially would require the team that trades for Smith to pay him the $6 million immediately. In this economic climate, many owners will balk at the payment.
“You are going to see very few owners willing to do things like that anymore,” one GM said. “I’m not saying he’s impossible to trade. There are a few owners like Paul Allen, James Dolan, Mark Cuban and maybe Daniel Gilbert who would pay the money. But there aren’t many.”
So that’s Chad’s report. Since then, I’ve been reporting the heck out of this. I spoke to multiple sources today and yesterday, and there’s a couple of things to address here:
1) Josh’s trade kicker is more like $7 million, not $6 million. (It’s actually a percentage of the money owed under the contract, not a set amount.)
2) Because the Hawks matched an offer sheet from Memphis to retain Josh, they can’t trade him for one year unless they get the consent of the player. So discussing trades and all that stuff right now would be a moot point unless Josh was the one who wanted to be traded. And I don’t believe that’s the case.
3) If the Hawks were to do a deal to shed Josh’s contract, in the interest of reducing overall team salary, they’d presumably want an expiring contract to make the deal work and, more importantly, draft picks, right? That way they’d use the picks to draft a couple of younger guys that they’d have for the next 3-4 years at the slotted rookie minimum salary.
But because Josh was a restricted free agent last summer and the Hawks matched his deal, he is a Base Year Compensation player. Because he signed last year in the middle of August, the Hawks could not trade him until the middle of August this year without all sorts of crazy financial permutations affecting the deal.
Which would make acquiring Draft picks in exchange for him rather difficult, if not impossible.
4) Basically, a “trade kicker” works like a no-trade clause. To have a no-trade clause as an NBA player, you have to have 8 years of service with the same team. Josh does not have that much service with the Hawks, but the kicker basically works like a no-trade, as far as the player is concerned.
But let’s say the Hawks worked out a deal to move Josh to, say, Minnesota. The T-Wolves might have a deal worked out where salaries matched up, but maybe they don’t have an extra $7 million cash sitting around. (And according to NBA rules, the team has to write one check to the player for the entire amount within 30 days of the trade happening.)
So the Wolves would have to come to Josh and say, Would you be willing to pass on part of that $7 million bonus to come play for us? And Josh could say no, effectively vetoing the trade.
(Also, I’ve been told a player can’t pass on the entire amount of the kicker.)
Conversely, if, say, the Lakers worked out a deal and came to Josh with the same proposal, he might say yes to skipping some money, figuring he could make up that amount in local marketing deals. Or maybe he’d just rather play for Phil Jackson than Mike Woodson.
5) If the Hawks are really interested in keeping all of the players Chad mentions above but don’t have the cash to do it, one way around that might be NOT PAYING THEM AS MUCH AS THEY PAID THEM LAST YEAR. Mike Bibby was a key player last season, but he also made $14 million. He’s not going to make that much this year, not from Atlanta, not from anyone else. (Unless maybe Olympiakos becomes involved.)
6) In talking to people about this deal, an interesting question came up that nobody had a concrete answer for: Say Josh got traded today. He made $10 million last season — and from what I was told, it would still be last season’s salary that would be his trade number, at least until July 1, when free agency starts. So his value in a trade would be $10 million.
Or would it? Because even though it’s not his salary, with the trade kicker involved, the team he would be traded to would be responsible for paying him not $10 million, but $17 million. Right? So is his trade number, for lack of a better term, $10 million or $17 million? I think it’s $17 million, at least that’s what I was told by one exec. Which would make trading him now even tougher.
OK, now that we’ve cleared the factual stuff up…
As a Hawks fan, would I be upset if the Hawks traded Josh Smith? Well, that depends. I like Josh, as a person and as a player, and I’m glad that he’s on my favorite team. But if trading Josh could make the Hawks a better team, then I understand the need to move him. I really don’t care whether or not they trade him, I just care about who or what they would trade him for.
That said, to me it’s going to be tough to find anything resembling equal value for a 23-year-old who averaged 15.6 and 7.2 last season and is under a very reasonable contract for the next five years. More importantly, from what I understand, the Hawks really like Josh Smith.
So put all that together and what do you get?
The Hawks aren’t trying to trade Josh Smith right now.
Or maybe I’m wrong. In which case I’m going to start a blog with crazy trade rumors.
• Someone emailed me last night saying they’ve loved The Links lately, although they didn’t understand why I hate Kobe.
Sigh.
We’ve been through this before right? I don’t hate him. I voted for him for MVP last year, for goodness sakes.
And just to show all of you Kobe fans out there that I don’t hate him, here’s a link to a Kobe-inspired shirt from our friends at K1X. You can cop it here.
• Steve Nash is hosting his all-star soccer match again.
• The Big Lead did a post about our recent Top 50 issue (which we’re going to run here on SLAMonline on Friday), and some of the commenters over there had some issues with our list. To answer a few queries…
– Couple of people didn’t understand having Gary Payton at 38. He was arguably the second-best point guard of his era, he’s the only PG ever to win Defensive Player of the Year, he was a 9-time All-Defensive First Team guy, he went to the Finals twice and he won a ring with Miami.
– Steve Nash at 50? Yep. We talked about Nash forever in our meeting for that issue, but when it came down to it, can you leave a two-time MVP off the list of the top 50 players in League history? We decided we couldn’t. At least not this time.
– What the difference between Reggie Miller and Clyde Drexler? Championships. Or at least, a championship.
– Why was Wes Unseld ranked only 32nd? Wes was/is known as a tough interior player and a brilliant outlet passer, but he had career averages of 10 ppg and 14 rpg. He did win a title with the Bullets (and was Finals MVP), but are 10 and 14 necessarily better than, say, Willis Reed’s 19 and 13? Not to me, no.
– “Pearl Monroe behind McAdoo, Gervin, Cowens, Wilkins, Drexler and AI?”
Um, yes. Look at their stats:
Monroe: 17,454 career points, won 1 ring, ROY, HOF
McAdoo: 18,787 career points, led League in PPG three times, ROY, MVP, won 2 rings, HOF
Gervin: 26,595 career points (ABA and NBA), five-time All-NBA first team, led NBA in PPG four times, 12-time All-Star, HOF
Cowens: 13,516 career points, ROY, MVP, won 2 rings, HOF
Wilkins: 26,668 career points, led League in PPG, seven times made an All-NBA first/second/third team, HOF
Drexler: 22,195 career points, went to Finals three times, won 1 ring, HOF
Iverson: 23,983 career points, ROY, MVP, led League in steals twice, led in PPG four times, led in MPG seven times, went to Finals once
– “LeBron over Nique?” Yep, and there wasn’t even any arguing about this. Hey, I might be the world’s biggest Nique fan of all time, but right now LeBron is already a more complete player than Nique ever was.
• A couple of years ago, I wrote on the Links about battling a cold, and my father-in-law suggested I take something called Zicam. It was over-the-counter medicine sold on swabs that you rub inside your nose. Sounds weird, but I gave it a shot and it seemed to work pretty well. Turns out it might work a little too well.
• Finally, don’t know if you guys have followed this, but apparently Gov. Sarah Palin took umbrage at a joke David Letterman about her daughter. She said Letterman should apologize, and Letterman did apologize, twice.
And then a revolt! A bunch of people decided to protest outside Letterman’s show last night and demand he be fired. New York magazine has a great video from the protest (via SNL’s Seth Myers):
And Letterman himself had a pretty funny Top Ten list last night:
Top Ten Things Overheard At The “Fire David Letterman” Rally
10. “David who?”
9. “Well, it was nice of CBS to provide the catering”
8. “We should have done this years ago”
7. “What idiot turned Broadway into a pedestrian mall?”
6. “Isn’t there always a crowd demanding Letterman be fired?”
5. “March around the potholes, people”
4. “Can we also get CBS to bring back ‘Gunsmoke’?”
3. “When does Cheney get here with the waterboarding gear?”
2. “He should apologize for that hairpiece”
1. “Thanks for coming, Regis”
I’m coming to NYC for a week from June 29th to July 4th. Any advice for where I could catch some top level streetball? Is the Rucker league gonna be hapening around then? Thanks in advance.
And this Letterman thing is getting way out of control; but that’s coming from a person who thinks you can joke about almost everything. It’s almost hypocrite that people are demonstrating and yelling he should be fired. Are you kidding me? Even if you would call the joke a mistake - the man has been on TV for ages, doing a show night in and night out, and now he should be fired for one joke that went wrong? Some people are just crazy.
Nice breakdown on the Josh Smith tade rumor, it looks like moving him now would basically be an impossibility. I LOVE Al Horford, the guy is one of my favorite players in the L, but he’s really a PF and has struggled against legit seven footers so I can understand the Hawks considering moving Josh in order to keep Marvin and Horford together in the frontcourt giving them a great combo of scoring, rebounding and defense.
Josh is an amazing talent and one of the most entertaining players in the L, but he’s also one of the most frustrating. The bad shots, beefing with coaches, poor decision making and inconsistent energy and effort. He’s not a team cancer or anything, and as you stated his deal is reasonable, but I think the Hawks are leaning towards Marvin as their SF of the future and Horford as their PF, and I tend to agree with them.
If they could land an upgrade over ZaZa at center and maybe a mid first round pick I could see them pull the trigger.
And how did y’all judge Bob Petit’s game? Did somebody really watch tape?
The only one of your comments I have a problem with is Allen Iverson.
I respect Clyde’s game, but was he really good at anything other than scoring?
And was he better at scoring than Iverson?
Hope this was a successful issue,btw.
the dumber they come the better they fit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YpBP2mJe2s&feature=channel_page
Oh yeah, and don’t forget just how good of a leader and team asset Miller was, too. The year the Bulls went 72-10, the Pacers were the only team to beat them twice, led by REGGIE. However, Reggie was injured during the playoffs and the Bulls crushed the Pacers.
THAT’S how valuable Reggie Miller was.
(http://)www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YpBP2mJe2s&feature=channel_page
Ignore the parentheses… I don’t want to be confused with spam. Hope this works.
I’m a huge Steve Nash slurper and even I don’t think the dude deserved to be on the list.
I don’t think I’ll be there on that weekend of the 27-28th, but it looks like my trip will be extended past the 4th of jUly so probably about June 29th - July 5th/6th.
Nique = underrated
LeBron = overrated
Gasol = underrated
Kobe = well rated
There can be no argument about this.
I didn’t scan the whole list, was ‘Bron higher than Scottie? Cause that would be an argument worth having.
Also, I’ve been thinking about the top five players I would pick if I had to choose a team to play in a tournament against other NBA greats. Kind of like an all-time fantasy league.
Here is the team I settled on.
Stockton
Jordan
Pippen
Olajuwon
Russell
I say that five rides on anybody. I think that might be an interesting discussion to have. Thanks.
I get why you’d pick Nash and Stockton over Magic, more team-oriented passing, but you have so much mismatch with Magic, it’s not even funny. Pippen over Bird is… logical, you have the defense and a guy who will defer to others, but I gotta go with the spot up shooting… without Bird, the defense can camp in a little, plus Bird is great at both setting picks and running around them, I like that on my team.
The four and five are interesting. If I can grab Hakeem at the four spot (he did play the four with Sampson, right?), then I’ll have Jabbar at the five spot, so we can have some low-post, high-post combination here. If I gotta pick a legit power forward, I’ll go with Duncan, and then have Chamberlain secure it down low.
I selected my team based on the idea that a team is more than a collection of talented cats. Here’s my logic.
On every team there must be an established and undisputed alpha dog scorer. I chose Jordan because of all the great scorers in NBA history, he is arguably the most clutch, the most athletic and the best defender. So, he’s my alpha dog.
Jordan and Pippen formed one of the most fearsome tandems at the 2/3 in the history of the league. Their defense was so stifling, they intimidated teams before they took the floor. Since I’m a firm believer in the power of defense, I want those two guarding arguably the most talented two positions in the history of the game. Plus, I lose NOTHING with Pippen on offense. As he proved in 95, he’s a legit 20+ point scorer, a great facilliator and he wants the ball.
Now, Hakeem and Russell. Everybody has already listed the greatness of my favorite player of all time, so I’ll defer to y’all. But, I will add that his versality on both ends of the floor was the key to me selecting him because he detracts nothing from the strength I already have on defense or offense. He can score even without a huge amount of shots, he can hit jumpers and he humble enough to play a supporting role.
I agree that it’s hard to judge Russell’s greatness. But, from what I can tell, he was Dennis Rodman, only better and less crazy. Ridiculous rebounder and arguably the greatest defender in the history of the league. Plus, he’s all about TEAM, so he has not problem deferring when it comes to scoring to Dream and Jordan. True, he’s not an offensive force, but that works to my advantage. You can’t just leave him alone because he will kill you on the glass, plus he understands enough about basketball and scoring that he will get buckets if ignored. He’s rangy, quick and strong, so he also builds on the defensive foundation I’ve already established.
Finally, Stockton. This was a tough choice. The popular answer is Magic. My heart told me to pick Isiah.
But, in the end, on a team built around defense and selflessness, Stockton is the right choice. Gritty, tough defender, perfect at setting up a team, and, most importantly, he only needs limited touches and opportunities to be successful. So many great players need the ball in their hands an inordinate amount of time to really shine. Stockton was probably the most efficient player in league history.
Can y’all imagine that team on defense?
Jordan, Pippen and Stockton playing stifling on ball defense, with Hakeem and Russell cleaning up the mess and the glass. My goodness. And on offense, everybody has clearly defined roles that exploit their strengths.
We the best.
My brother and his friends used to have whole leagues on Live based around fantasy drafts. It was interesting.
I’d easily choose Chamberlain over Russell though. Russell’s real value comes from his drive, his willpower and his leadership. If you have Jordan, Stockton, and Hakeem, you really don’t need that.
My homeboy made the Duncan argument, and honestly, that might be a flub on my part. My feeling was that if I’m not feeding Duncan consistently, I’m almost wasting him because it takes more time for him to get his rhythm. Plus, I felt Russell was a superior defender, which is what I was looking for at that spot. I only need so many scorers, having too many causes problems. Players who don’t really want the ball, but still know what to do with it, is important.
No question. With Isiah, you have more options. You need less to make your team great.
Where did you get the idea that Stockton wasn’t a consistent shooter?
And you’re ignoring the HUGE difference in defense between Stockton and Nash.
And he had 10 seasons with 10+ assists per game.
The difference in defense is as big as Myles’ hatred for Lebron: GIGANTIC.
Although I’m thinking a “do this or else I wont write for your blog” may backfire tremendously.
The other idea, as Blinguo stated, would be to make an entire blog dedicated to it. Of course, if we reveaeld each pick a day at a time, it would take 120 days to full complete with ten people competing. Two months if it’s two updates a day, a month if it’s three. The issue is adding an actual writeup immediately after someone picks their guy.
Blinguo: What was I mada bout Steve Nash?
Big O
Michael Jordan
Dr. Erving
Tim Duncan
Hakeem the Dream
Magic
Shaq
Pip
Barkley (I know, I know, he’s a huge load of shi*t today, but he was ridiculously good in his prime and this is a fantasy list, yes?)
PG: Magic,
SG: Jordan,
SF: Pippen,
PF: Duncan,
C: Dream. The only starter below 6′9″ is Jordan, they would be unstoppable in the open court with Jordan and Pippen filling lanes and Dream trailing, no one could match up with them defensively in the half court and the starting lineup includes four players who could be top ten ALL TIME defensively. They would rock Eboy’s team.
It’s also easier to be unstoppable when you’re playing with Kobe, DWade and Penny Hardaway.
Don’t even mentione Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones.
Shaq had better talent then Hakeem his entire career.
Kobe’s had the better career, but there’s no question that T-Mac at his peak is better than Kobe at his peak.
The problem I have with that is it kind of undermines what Nique did and accomplished his entire career. Nique sweat and fought other legends his entire career, only to be placed behind LeBron on a Greatest 50 List? Come on now.
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