josh smith flew to LA to practice with the celtics

[CelticHooligan3]

Has anyone considered the possibility of J-Smoove pulling a Howard and forcing his hand to Boston? Maybe we can even get him for pennies on the dollar if he tells Atlanta he won't sign with anyone else.

The problem is, the Lakers still gave up a heck of an asset to get Howard, and the C's might not have that.

problem with that is smith is not on howards level. Howard is THE BEST CENTER in the league. Smith Although is my favorite forward he is not the best the NBA has to offer.

Right.  But the C's still have to give up salary to match him.  And Atlanta may not want to take it on.

I see your point, but if im Atlanta don't i want to get some young assets instead of just letting him walk with nothing in return?

Danny's hand was forced like this with the Perk trade. He knew we weren't going to resign Perk so we took back some young assets even though our preference was obviously James Harden. We didn't get our first option but looking back on it now it seems we certainly won that trade in the long run.

[Chris]

Has anyone considered the possibility of J-Smoove pulling a Howard and forcing his hand to Boston? Maybe we can even get him for pennies on the dollar if he tells Atlanta he won't sign with anyone else.

The problem is, the Lakers still gave up a heck of an asset to get Howard, and the C's might not have that.

problem with that is smith is not on howards level. Howard is THE BEST CENTER in the league. Smith Although is my favorite forward he is not the best the NBA has to offer.

Right.  But the C's still have to give up salary to match him.  And Atlanta may not want to take it on.

I see your point, but if im Atlanta don't i want to get some young assets instead of just letting him walk with nothing in return?

Danny's hand was forced like this with the Perk trade. He knew we weren't going to resign Perk so we took back some young assets even though our preference was obviously James Harden. We didn't get our first option but looking back on it now it seems we certainly won that trade in the long run.

The problem is, if Jeff Green or whoever the C's are sending for salary does not turn out to be a bargain, or the young guys the C's are sending are not absolute studs...then Atlanta could probably get better value just by taking on teams bad contracts with the cap space they would have.

And this is where the catch 22 comes in.  For Atlanta to want to deal with Boston, who don't have expiring contracts, it means the C's will have to either pay a premium in other assets to make up for the contracts Atlanta is taking on, or it means that the contracts Atlanta is taking on, are players who are really exceeding their contracts value...in which case, I am not sure I want Smith that badly.

I think there are scenarios where this could happen.  But its going to be difficult.

[drogbagarnett]

I do not understand...
How about waiting for next year when he is free to choose his team..?
I wouldn't mind going above the tax a little bit for the 2 years that KG would have left...
Why give up great assets like Bass and Bradley for 3 months of JSmoove when we can have all three the year after..?

I am thinking next year and beyond :
Rondo - Bradley - Green - JSmoove - Darko

with a veteran bench of :
Terry - Lee - Pierce - Garnett - Bass

and a young group of :
Smith - Christmas - Joseph - Sully - Melo

So we could basically get JSmoove for Wilcox (and Jamar Smith for Collins) the year we will be defending our championship!!
Who says no..

[AshyLarry]

Is not clear that the boost to our team's performance by adding Josh Smith would be at all equal to that of adding Avery Bradley. Remember Bradley was replacing Ray Allen. We are assuming that JET and Lee would replace Bradley.

You are trading Bradley for Smith with Bass to fill the void left by Smith. We need Bradley more long term than we need Smith.

Tp. Idk why people underestimate Bradley's potential on the norm.

Getting Smith is getting a more "talented" player, who's judgement is questionable, at a position at which where we're basically set, and with a potentially great yungin in Sullinger.

Bradley is programmed to play lockdown D, and is still improving his offense. He may become something REALLY special. I think he already is.

[flyofchange]

If we somehow would be able to get smoove without giving up bradley....sounds too good to be true i know but imagine that defensive lineup:

Pg Rondo
Sg Bradley
Sf Pierce
Pf Smith
C KG

WOW!

Pierce being maybe the worst defender in the unit which doesnt say much, you could basically put any scrub in the league at the 3 and still shut down any teams offense.
I mean WOW!

[SHAQATTACK]

Id trade Bass and Green for Smith ..but Ids keep Sully and Fab ..they are going to be really good  one day .

Hate to trade Bradley, he is nearly my favorite Celtic  :-Xs

[nickagneta]

Gotta say that I am not a fan of Smith's and it has mostly to do with his love of his extremely erratic outside shooting. The way he falls in love with the outside shot and then completely forgets he is bast suited to play in the paint reminds me of Antoine Walker. Walker drove me nuts shooting threes instead of going in the paint.

If Josh Smith were to play a more post oriented game, I would welcome him here.

It would also explain the Jeff Green contract as Green and Bass for Smith add up. Now maybe the C's would have to get a third team involved to take on Green's and/or Bass' contract while sending young players or expiring contracts to the Hawks, but a Bass/Green for Smith deal makes sense on a lot of levels.

[bfrombleacher]

It would also explain the Jeff Green contract as Green and Bass for Smith add up. Now maybe the C's would have to get a third team involved to take on Green's and/or Bass' contract while sending young players or expiring contracts to the Hawks, but a Bass/Green for Smith deal makes sense on a lot of levels.

I'm apprehensive in trading the two...unless for Josh Smith (or better of course). If Danny pulls this off, there's no question who's the best GM.

[crimson_stallion]

Well, he IS close friends with Rondo....he does love BOS - giving our crowd much props after our playoff win last year....

That being said, I'd be VERY hesitant, if I were Danny, about pulling the plug on ANY potential trade just yet. I just feel that our squad, as is, is ready to do some serious damage well into June next year - and year after that.

The NBA is a league of where stars flourish and teams win because of stars. I, like you, also love our team on paper, depth in all 5 positions. With that said, adding a star will take this roster to the next level. I am all for getting Josh Smith if all we had to give up is Avery and Bass.

This!!!

I would be cut to give up Bradley as I really like that kid, but there are no guarantees he's going to become a future all-star, while we Smith will be.

Giving up bass at this stage is really no big deal.  We can start smith in his place, then we still have Sullinger, Wilcox and Green all capable of backing up the PF spot - Bass becomes entirely redundant.

I'd rather give up Lee and Bass, bit I doubt Atlanta would bite on that.  The only guys I wouldn't want to give up are KG, Pierce, Rondo and Green.

Green because (bar Rondo) he and Bradley have the highest upside, and we need a backup SF to back up Pierce more.than we need a backup SG (we already have Rondo, Terry and Lee at guard).

PF right now is without question our weakest position.  We have a dominant PG (Rondo) a dominant offensive SG (Terry), a dominant defensive SG (Bradley), a dominant SF (Pierce) and. Dominant C (Garnett).  Every PF we have (Bass, Wilcox, Sullinger) is a purely a role player at this point in their careers - we are one dominant PF away from being right up therewwith LA and Mia talent wise with our starting 5.

Imagine this roster:

Starters:
C- Kevin Garnett
PF - Josh Smith
SF - Paul Pierce
SG - Courtney Lee
PG - Rajon Rondo

Bench:
Collins
Milicic
Wilcox
Sullinger
Green
Terry
Joseph
Christmas
Player X (gained from ATL)

[gpap]

I would call up Atlanta's FO and offer Pierce and filler for Smith in a heartbeat.

[GreenFaith1819]

I would call up Atlanta's FO and offer Pierce and filler for Smith in a heartbeat.

C'mon Man not the Captain.....

[Smitty77]

I would think that Atlanta would be all over getting Bass and Green (especially if JG proves he is close to the 16 and 6 player at OKC) if they know they are likely to lose Josh for nothing at the end of the season. 

Smitty77

[nickagneta]

I would think that Atlanta would be all over getting Bass and Green (especially if JG proves he is close to the 16 and 6 player at OKC) if they know they are likely to lose Josh for nothing at the end of the season. 

Smitty77

I am not so sure. If they don't want to pay Smith, or just think he is gone, do they really want to spend $15 million a year for 3 years on two role players? Wouldn't they rather want expiring contracts and picks to have the financial flexibility to rebuild?

[crimson_stallion]

I would call up Atlanta's FO and offer Pierce and filler for Smith in a heartbeat.

C'mon Man not the Captain.....

Agreed.

Pierce may not be young, but he's still an All-Star, a top 15 clutch scorer and a versatile player who can contribute to the game in almost every way.

If Boston were looking to rebuilt from scratch all of this would be unimportant, but the team Boston has assembled makes it obvious they want to win now - if that's the case, Pierce is one guy you DON'T let go of.

[mgent]

Gotta say that I am not a fan of Smith's and it has mostly to do with his love of his extremely erratic outside shooting. The way he falls in love with the outside shot and then completely forgets he is bast suited to play in the paint reminds me of Antoine Walker. Walker drove me nuts shooting threes instead of going in the paint.

I had the same holdup, but you have to think he wouldn't have the same game here, seeing as Atlanta and Boston couldn't be further apart in terms of offensive schemes.  They were an isolation team first and foremost, that didn't like to pass and had trouble getting Smith the ball down low (especially when Johnson was doing his own iso and wanted Smith out of the way).  This resulted in Smith having to play a lot of point, and setting up his teammates from a face-up triple-threat position (and every team knows which of the three options he'll burn you with least often).

I feel like he'd still do that here, just less often.  With our style of play and vastly different personnel I think the way we would set him up would curb his appetite for the jumpshot.  He'd realize he can still get his points, just in a way that's much easier here than in Atlanta.

Three years ago he was asked to stop taking 3s for the better of the team and he immediately did it cold turkey.  He's willing to win, but probably realized a while ago he can't do it with the Hawks.  If we told him instead of so many jump shots, he can move the ball and actually get the ball back (never happen in Atlanta) I don't see why he wouldn't listen to reason.  I think people underrate what it's like playing with KG and seeing such a lethal player pass up open shots to keep the ball moving.  It's a contagious sort of unselfishness and I bet you feel pretty stupid if he passes up an open shot so you, a lesser shooter, can take a contested shot (and when he says something about your mom afterwards).  Most teammates aren't used to this and change their game accordingly, the most glaring examples being Jeff Green and Krstic who came from an offensive set almost identical to Atlanta.