The Atlanta Hawks are a young, athletic, exciting team. But they don't seem to be on a championship path. So now they're apparently starting to think of pieces they can trade... in an effort to bring in some more stable players that might be able to help them move forward. One of those players: Josh Smith
ESPN reported "the Hawks have been working hard the past few weeks to see whether they can find a taker for Smith," but that trading Smith won't be easy because he has a "$6 million trade kicker attached to his contract." In other words, if you trade for Smith, you're giving him a cool $6 mil right off the bat
That means the Celtics are going to have a hard time dealing for him. He's got $50 million left on his deal... which runs through 2012/2013... so you're making a big commitment. And where do you play him? Do you somehow work a deal involving Ray's contract and slide Pierce to the 2? I just don't see it. But I do see potential for some of our competitors. It depends on whether the Hawks are trying to acquire a star player now... or whether they're also looking for expiring deals so they can hop into the 2010 sweepstakes. Cleveland's got Ben Wallace's deal that they can work with. Or, of they'd prefer, maybe some kind of sign and trade with Orlando for Turkoglu. Atlanta would get the playoff experience... and Orlando would get a slasher to compliment their shooters. So while I doubt the Celtics could swing a deal that makes sense financially and for the team, I'm wondering if someone who stands in our way next year can. A young, athletic guy like Smith could be a big matchup problem for Paul Pierce. Wanna play GM? Go ahead and use the Real GM trade checker or ESPN trade machine and give it a whirl. But I warn you - if you try a trade and post it in the comments... you open yourself up to ridicule if the trade makes no sense.