Is it time to explore Trading Josh Smith

[bumpyphish1]

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It's so sad that none of you realize how bad our TEAM offense is. Put Josh on a different team, with even a DECENT PG and coach and he will absolutely explode. It will be the Nique trade all over again.

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DING DING DING!

Why do people not get this, Atlas?

[Plainview1981]

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How many 6'9 235 lbs guys out these can handle the ball enough to occasionally cross all-stars over (he got Dirk Nowitzki in the 1st game),{/quote]

Josh Smith is a TERRIBLE ball handler. And you use one of the worst defensive players in Dirk to try and prove a point?

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(he gets 7 or so now...it's not a stretch to see him getting 9-10 when he turns 25, four years from now)

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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Maybe I'm trying to stay in my dreamland where Josh becomes a bigtime star...but Josh is notoriously a slow starter offensively. Every year he's been in the league he shoots under 40% in November...and by the end of the year he's found his rhythm. And yes, I know that the schedule starts in November. I just don't want to give away a guy who (I may get flammed for this) has a skill set that no one else in the league has (not saying that he's the most talented player...just easily one of the most unique).

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The problem with this statement ( and I read where Walter was making kind of the same point over Thanksgiving ), is that in those past 3 years, Smoove was playing SF . . not PF. Even last year, when he was supposed to start at PF, he started at SF because of Marvin's injury. We CANNOT have our starting PF shooting below 40%, and expect him to be the 2nd option in this offense. Hell, we really can't have him shooting below 45%.

The main problem with Smoove taking jumpers, is that he's away from the basket, thus, he can't get any offensive rebounds. If 6 of his shots were transferred over to Marvin of JJ, ( or Law when he comes back ) he might have 6 extra opportunites to get an offensive rebound that he can put right back in the hole. But he absolutely loves the perimeter. And it kills this team on nights where he, and Marvin or JJ don't have it going.

More than anything else, we need his rebounding on both ends of the floor. There's no excuse for him not to be averaging close to 10 rebounds a game.

NO . . we shouldn't trade him.

LOL @ his stat line:

12 points ( 2 - 14 FG . . 7 - 10 FT )

7 rebounds

4 assists

6 blocks

only 1 turnover

I mean, damn. If it wasn't for the 12 missed shots, that's a pretty dang good game for him. But the rebounding number should've been much higher, especially considering how cold Chicago was from the field in the 1st half.

But like I said . . . what can Woody do, if Shelden and ZaZa is playing like crap, and won't mix it up as well? 1 rebound total between them in 13 total minutes. He's almost forced to play Smoove, or either start Chill, and go with Marvin or Solomon at the 4.

You definitely don't trade Smoove right now though. You reduce his role in the offense. Then possibly send him to the bench, and see if that will straighten him out. If he plays well off the bench, give him his 30 - 35 minutes a game. If he's playing stupid, reduce him to 20.

I've been telling you guys for a while now, that this is the exact same thing that Kirilenko was going through last year in Utah. Jerry Sloan had to get in his azz a little . . well, a lot. It got to the point to where AK was sulking about his role, but the team was still winning.

This year, AK has reduced the number of shots he's taking, but become a much more efficient player. He's their 2nd best passer at over 5 assists a game. He's almost doubled his assist rate this season, compared to last.

I think Smoove could possibly become that 2nd faciliator in the offense, if he looked to set up people more, instead of settling for that open shot that everyone is giving him.

But until someone else proves that they can play halfway decent at the 4 with Smoove out the game, we're kind of stuck living and dying with Smoove.

[Plainview1981]

I understand where your fears come from as far as a trade. Honestly, we don't know what some of the players can do because of the bad coaching, but are you going to throw 12 million at Josh Smith and hope he plays better with a better coach?

[drzachary]

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I know Josh Smith has all the talent in the world. Great Defense, trained with Hakeem Olaujawon in the summer, but he still takes ill advised shots and seems impossible to coach. I know the rule of thumb shared by most fans would be to Keep smith an explore trading Marvin but I dont know how many games we can win when uncoachable Josh Smith takes ill advised shots time after time and then argues with the coach repeatedly. His Value is very high, should we explore trading him b/c eventually if not already will be a cancer in the locker room? And JJ will not wait around much longer for the Hawks to get serious. Just a thought.

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It's time to blow up the team, fire the GM and the coach, and start over from scratch.

[Buzzard]

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It's time to blow up the team, fire the GM and the coach, and start over from scratch.

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Its only another year in the lottery. What's your rush?

[Diesel]

Tyrus Thomas is worse...

Because TT is nowhere near as interested in improving his game as Smoove. Nor is he as skilled.

[DrReality]

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It's time to blow up the team, fire the GM and the coach, and start over from scratch.

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Its only another year in the lottery. What's your rush?

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And the Suns have our pick. No way around it.

Smoove is a great talent, but he does not play within our offense, whatever that might be. I would want to see our pg problem resolved first, coach resolved next and then consider trading him . . . . . in that order.

[Hawk88]

Josh Smith is a young Ron Artest..... You would have to be blind not to see it.

We should unload him as soon as possible. I still say send him to Chicago for Heinrich.

[Hawk88]

Josh Smith for Hinrich. Maybe Chicago will throw in a 1st round pick to boot.

Josh Smith is a black hole on offense. Unbelievable. 2-14 last night? Woody, do something like bench him if he won't quick throwing up bricks.

[gsuteke]

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Ok genius what do you propose? I have been to countless Hawks games the last two years especially sitting a few seats behind the bench and I'm telling you Josh Smith needs to grow up and increase his basketball IQ. Not only that but you would think in his contract year he would atleast be improving his game. Mike Woodson will most likely be the fall guy this season b/c in my city we get caught up in highlight reels. The same football highlight reels that VIck use to dominate. I know the season is young but we cant blame the coach for everything. Josh Smith is playing DUMB A$$ hell on offense, and now when JJ is struggling Joshs play is just magnified.

But lets live and die with Josh Smith...you idiot

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I agree with this guy.

[troubleman]

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Ok genius what do you propose? I have been to countless Hawks games the last two years especially sitting a few seats behind the bench and I'm telling you Josh Smith needs to grow up and increase his basketball IQ. Not only that but you would think in his contract year he would atleast be improving his game.

Mike Woodson will most likely be the fall guy this season b/c in my city we get caught up in highlight reels.

The same football highlight reels that VIck use to dominate. I know the season is young but we cant blame the coach for everything. Josh Smith is playing DUMB A$$ hell on offense, and now when JJ is struggling Joshs play is just magnified.

But lets live and die with Josh Smith...you idiot

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No, he should be the fall guy, because his offense is one of the worst I have ever seen. There is no way Josh Smith should end up with as many perimeter shots as he does, and watching the game it seems like it is mostly by design. As someone mentioned earlier, Josh Smith should rarely be on the same side of the floor as Joe. Marvin is a much better shooter, and 80% of the time he is on the other side of the court. There is too much standing around on the court, and too few pick and pops.

I agree Josh takes entirely too many "bad" shots per game, but part of that seems to be coaching and lack of a pt guard. The Hawks need a veteran coach who understands the offensive side of the court. Until that happens, I find it hard to judge anyone on the court, because they are not put in the best position to succeed in my opinion.

It was the same thing with Michael Vick. People wanted him gone (and his dumba** helped them), but I always said he couldn't be judged until the talent/coaching was upgraded around him. Unlike many, I see the game thru the eyes of a former pt guard, which means I see the entire floor/field regardless of the sport. The Hawks are painful to watch when they run their offensive sets, and that won't change even if they trade Josh Smith. Pt Guard and Coach are the problem.

[Diesel]

You make an excellent point Trouble.

However, I think it's a mixture of both.

Last night at least 3 times, with the clock rolling down, I saw JJ pass the ball to Smoove who was waiting to take the three or the longshot.

My thought was "Hey, this looks like it's by design". Does Woody really draw up the Rasheed Wallace play for SMoove??

Then later I saw Smoove abandon the three point line trying to drive inside. I said "hey, that looks like it's Smoove being able to do what he wants to do..."

I think the truth is if you look at the Larry Brown booklet on offense, he likes a PF who can shoot. Brown was the one who first played Al Harrington big minutes. Back when they had Artest, Harrington, Oneal in the frontcourt and said that Oneal wasn't a C?? Who is complaining, they won 61 games.

Brown was the one who traded for Sheed in Detroit.

Brown's 1991 Spurs team had Tim Duncan who would set up High Post and they would run the offense through him..

Before that, Brown had Danny Manning who he allowed to be a PF who could shoot from the midrange.

I'm pretty sure that Woody is trying to redo a Larry Brown... but Smoove is not Sheed or Harrington or Duncan or Manning.

[mrhonline]

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Josh Smith for Hinrich. Maybe Chicago will throw in a 1st round pick to boot.

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Dunno about the pick, but I'm definitely game for a Hinrich-for-Smith swap. Perimeter shooting, steady leadership, smart basketball, tough perimeter D, and the ability to swing over to the 2 in short stretches to allow Law to get some extra minutes. Not to mention his declining contract.

He's BYC, though. It'd have to be a creative deal to get done anytime soon.

[Johnnybravo4]

Yeah we are going to trade our 17ppg 8 reb 3ast 2.1 steals 3.5bpg for a 10 ppg 5 ast player who got benched for Chris Duhon last night. This board gets dumber everyday.

[mrhonline]

Josh Smith would've been benched last night himself for Shelden Williams, if the Hawks coach had the cojones of the Skiles, so that's not relevant.

Hinrich is an Olympian.

[MemphisX]

The biggest mistake the Hawks could make right now is to trade Josh Smith. This reminds me so much of the Tyson Chandler situation in Chicago. The kid has already had a productive season and seems to be having a down season now. I don't get it when teams draft HSers and when they don't have a complete game at age 21 then it is time to trade them. Just ignore the fact that the Hawks have had zero veterans on the squad to accelerate his learning curve. Ignore the fact that the Hawks have had zero point guards to make his offensive transition easier. Ignore the fact that he has played under an inexperienced NBA coach.

I am not saying he is going to be All NBA but you drafted him at 17. Did you expect him to be more productive than what he is under the circumstances?

I keep reading you Hawk fans comparing him to Nique and saying he can't hold a candle. Did you watch a young Dominique that couldn't shoot a lick from range. Yes, defenses were more liberal to strong drivers back then so his %s look okay but Josh Smith is at least as good now as Nique was as a 23 year old rookie.

Be patient. The kid is good and just needs to learn shot selection which will come with more experience. If you trade him, you will regret it.

[MemphisX]

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Josh Smith for Hinrich. Maybe Chicago will throw in a 1st round pick to boot.

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Dunno about the pick, but I'm definitely game for a Hinrich-for-Smith swap. Perimeter shooting, steady leadership, smart basketball, tough perimeter D, and the ability to swing over to the 2 in short stretches to allow Law to get some extra minutes. Not to mention his declining contract.

He's BYC, though. It'd have to be a creative deal to get done anytime soon.

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Josh Smith shoots better than Hinrich. Think about that.

[Johnnybravo4]

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Josh Smith would've been benched last night himself for Shelden Williams, if the Hawks coach had the cojones of the Skiles, so that's not relevant.

Hinrich is an Olympian.

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Shelden got benched last night basically...because he gives us NOTHING

[Diesel]

I saw exactly what got Shelden benched.

He didn't pop out on the screen and roll. It was Hinrich and Joe Smith. Smith set the screen on JJ... Shelden stayed home to defend the roller (Smith) and Hinrich stepped out and drained a two.

I can't say that I blame him 1000% for not stepping out to the screen and roll... everybody knows that the harder shot is to the guy who is shooting from outside than the cutting screener. And the beauty of the screen and roll is that the guy with the ball has a perfect passing angle on the pass to the roller. Shelden's problem is after Hinrich had committed to shooting, Shelden was not fast enough to make it out there to bother that shot.

I think However, that Shelden did get in there and rebound or he would have been a much better rebounder than what we had. I also think our offense is messed up. Regardless of if it's Smith, Shelden, Horford, or Zaza... They all get the ball High Post. The only time we get the ball Low post is on a rebound.