Forget about Josh Smith – Josh Smith has signed a 58 Million Dollar offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies

by | Aug 8, 2008 | 23 comments

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Photo/Associated Press

Link from Dave Dial of Mlive

“As the only team left with significant room under the salary cap, the Griz have shifted out of a summer holding pattern and targeted the versatile 6-9, 235-pound forward.

Atlanta has seven days to match, per league rules, once Smith receives the offer sheet.

Smith’s numbers have increased in each of his four NBA seasons since Atlanta made him a first-round pick out of high school in 2004. He averaged 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks last season, helping the Hawks make the playoffs.

The Hawks have said they would match any contract offer to the 22-year-old Smith, but are on the hook next season with big contracts for Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson.” Via Memphis Commercial Appeal

UPDATE: Atlanta Hawks match the 58 Million dollar offer sheet for Josh Smith.

23 Comments

  1. ric

    bad move for josh, good move for memphis……memphis would compete for a playoff spot but not for a title, not just yet which is a loss to josh, as far as getting a ring, although the money is pretty good. i guess for someone that young, money is more important than a ring.

    Reply
  2. Dominic

    DAMMIT!!!

    Other than T-Mac Josh Smith was the only other guy I would want for the Pistons to have. Now I just hope they stand pat unless there is another disgruntled star I’m not thinking of. But Atlanta could always match and do the sign and trade. Josh wants to win and I’m not sure Memphis is the team to go to.

    Reply
  3. Natalie Sitto

    Well either way he’s gone in regards to the Pistons getting him. He’ll either go to Memphis or Atlanta will match the offer (which seems unlikely).

    It looks like we may not see changes until mid season if any. At this point I wouldn’t mind waiting until next season when the Free Agent pool is much much better.

    Reply
  4. Ryan

    sign and trade with Atlanta? Why not.

    Reply
  5. Natalie Sitto

    Crossing fingers Ryan!

    Reply
  6. Dave Dial

    I don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade, but here are some things to consider to go along with this news.

    There is no longer any hope of a sign and trade with the Pistons getting Josh Smith. Smith signed a contract and if Atlanta matches the offer(which seems likely), Smith cannot be traded for 90 days or December 15th, whichever is later.

    And if the Hawks did want to trade him at that point, his contract falls into the BYC category, which makes any trade difficult. Whether Atlanta matches or Memphis gets to keep Smith, the Pistons seem out of the picture here.

    As for waiting for cap space next summer, the Pistons will not have any. They could let Sheed walk and they still would not have any space. Rip has a player option, and if he opts out and the Pistons renounce him(thus having no way to sign him back), then the Pistons might have 8-9 million in cap space. Depending on what Maxiell is signed for and their other free agents and draft picks, even without Rip the Pistons might not have any cap space.

    Letting Sheed and Rip walk would be horrible for the Pistons anyway. There are no free agents available that could replace even one of them for the money the Pistons could get.

    Again, sorry for the rain.

    Reply
  7. mannie32

    haha sucks for atlanta… either they lose smith or they are forced to pay more for him than they wanted… haha bet memphis did this just to screw with atlanta

    Reply
  8. illmatic774

    i don’t wanna sound like a bad fan but i’m kind of bored already.

    Reply
  9. Richie

    I have mixed feelings about this. I’m sad to see that we won’t have the opportunity to grab Smith, but I’m happy that we won’t be losing the core for him. I’m ready to see what this season has to offer us- I’d also like to see what Atlanta does with this whole in their roster.

    Reply
  10. Mark P

    Well if Atlanta signs Josh Smith, can’t we still do a sign and trade? Isn’t that how it works? I still want Smith on this team.

    Reply
  11. Dominic

    So much for seeing Dominique-style dunks in a Pistons jersey 🙁

    Reply
  12. illmatic774

    i’m not going to become content with this squad like some others have once they realized that Joe couldn’t pull off a move, but i guess i’m going to have to stop whining about it, since theres nothing that can be done at the point.

    its the attitude of guys like Chauncey (‘cool’ no matter what happens) and passive guys like Tayshaun that do me in. If we had more guys like Rip attitude wise i’d be fine.

    I’ll end it on this note: If Joe values Amir THAT much that he wouldn’t take Josh for him and Tay, he better be playing ~25 minutes per game. If the egos on our team can’t handle reduced minutes, throw their asses on the trading block.

    And i know that there are big Dice fans on this board but theres no way that a guy like him warrants 30 minutes.

    Reply
  13. ric

    ill take melo over smith for the exception of having melo under michael curry. i think theres only 2 star players that could be a blockbuster deal.

    1 melo
    2 stoudemire

    Reply
  14. ric

    its more difficult to do a have a new core player in the team in the middle of the season…it takes time to build team chemistry.

    Reply
  15. amer-ican prince

    illmatic774
    I agree with what you said about the attitudes of Chauncey and Tay they need to stop overanalyzing and play with their heart sometimes. I don’t know if Amir warrents 30 minutes a night but he should get some minutes I think.

    dave dial you definitely seem to know your CBA (collective bargaining agreement). From what I know what you said seems to be accurate. Hate that BYC thing. Not even sure why it was implemented.

    I’m doubtful that a coaching change is all that was required to get rid of the complacency on this team, but I’m open to the possibility that it was.

    I hope Lindsey Hunter is the last guy to fill out this roster. He’s so unselfish and plays hard. He brings so much to this team on and off the court, and I love it when him and Dyess are on the floor at the same time.

    Reply
  16. Mark P

    Hawks match the offer, sign and trade still very possible.

    Aug 08, 2008 10:17 PM EST
    Atlanta Hawks General Manager Rick Sund announced tonight that the club has retained forward Josh Smith and matched the offer sheet of the Memphis Grizzlies.

    “Tonight, the Hawks organization received an offer sheet from the Memphis Grizzlies for Josh Smith,” said Sund. “We are happy to announce that we will match their offer sheet. Ownership, management and the team are happy to have Josh return as a member of the Hawks. We look forward to training camp in October and we will continue to look at additional opportunities to improve our roster.”

    Smith, whom the Hawks drafted with the 17th pick overall in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft, has finished second in the NBA in blocks per game in each of the past two years and averaged team-highs in blocks per game (2.80) and steals per game (1.57), while also ranking second on the Hawks in points per game (17.2), rebounds per game (8.2) and assists per game (3.4) in 81 appearances last season

    Reply
  17. The Fluidics

    Was pretty proud to see all of the athletes in Beijing, but super pumped for Tayshaun. Only got a quick glance of him, since he is the 12th man for sure, but still, January 1st 2008, if you were Tay, would you have thought at all you would be playing for Olympic gold in 8 months?

    Reply
  18. Eric

    Yeah, watched the opening ceremony, it was dope. I’m excited for Team USA, at least it’ll distract us from our offseason issues, right?

    P.S. Did anyone else feel that Memphis’ offer was a bit low to be competitive?

    Reply
  19. Richie

    I’m also a big time Lindsey Hunter fan. I’d like to see him stay and I’d especially like to see him used in blitz like fashion. I think he should be throwin in for 2-5 minutes every game just to distrupt things and keep himself playoff-ready for game situations.
    I don’t think the Hawks are going to relinquish Smith.

    Reply
  20. Altan

    PG- Mike conley
    SG- Rudy Gay
    SF- Josh Smith
    PF- Darrel arthur
    C- Mrc Gasol, i dont knw whts os bad about this lineup other than chemistry

    Reply
  21. Altan

    or

    PG- Conley
    SG- mayo
    SF- gay
    PF- Smith
    – Marc gasol

    Reply
  22. The Fluidics

    USA Women’s team trounce the Czech republic 97-57 in their opening game. Great job ladies.

    Reply
  23. Dominic

    Altan ur forgetting Darko and Hakim Warrick both of those guys are better than the rookies you’ve named

    Reply

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