Well, there is still no end to the Josh Smith saga. Even though the market is now set with Biedrens, Deng, and Okafor signing, Hawks management still can't reach an agreement with J-Smoove. Sign and Trade options have been explored, but none make the Hawks a better team. I think the rumored trades (Prince and Amir Johnson from DET & Josh Howard and Brandon Bass from DAL) are decent, but not better than re-signing Smith.
Even with Smith back, this team still has issues in the front court. Only about 3 million is available from the MLE, so there isn't any cap room to sign much else. The roster would almost be set with a Josh signing, giving Atlanta a depth chart of:
Bibby/Law/Claxton
Johnson/Evans/West
Williams/Richardson
Smith/Jones
Horford/ZaZa/Morris
With so many other teams in the East improving (Philly, NJ, Toronto, Chicago), the Hawks are probably looking at a dogfight to get back into the playoffs. Anything less than a return trip to the post-season would be devastating to the franchise. I do think that if the team remains relatively healthy most of the season and Marvin gets a lot better they can win 42-45 with this squad. Maybe a trade deadline deal with Claxton's upcoming expiring contract and a pick can get us some veteran help down the stretch, but there is not much left on the free agent market right now.
All the more reason to get the Smoove deal done now...
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