Poll time: What would you think of Smith-for-Bynum deal?
Andrew Bynum has some baggage but he would give Hawks a legitimate center. (AP photo)
The other day I wrote that it might be time for the Hawks to part ways with Josh Smith– not just because he’s the most likely trade candidate in their core, but because it’s becoming clear that he’s getting tired of being blamed for everything when something goes wrong.
The Smith-bashers in town favored the column. The Smith fans hated it, some taking it as another media assault on Smith. Fact is, as I wrote, I agree with Smith that he takes more blame for the team’s shortcoming than he deserves.
Loading ...But that column sparked immediate trade rumors, including this one: Smith and Kirk Hinrich to Los Angeles Lakers for Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest. Barring other moves, that would leave the Hawks with a starting five of Bynum (center), Ron Artest (small forward), Al Horford (power forward), Joe Johnson (shooting guard) and Jeff Teague (point guard).
That trade is nowhere close to reality right now — it was concocted by media members for the sake of discussion, and because it seems plausible. The Lakers could be looking to move Bynum after his postseason meltdown, and they also may pursue a deal for Orlando’s Dwight Howard, which would make Bynum expendable. (One outlet, Hoopsworld, also is speculating whether the Clippers will pursue Smith.)
Bynum obviously has had his issues. But he would give the Hawks their first legitimate center in years and allow Horford to move to his more natural position of power forward. If the way Teague played against Chicago in the playoffs was not an aberration, suddenly the Hawks could be set at point guard and center, and when is the last time we could say that?
So I’m not saying this trade is going to happen. But since there seems to be so much interest in this topic, I figured I’d turn it over to you. What would you think about a Smith-Hinrich for Bynum-Artest deal? We’ll also put up a poll and see how the voting goes.
By Jeff Schultz
♦
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435 comments Add your comment
Anthony Davis
May 25th, 2011
12:44 pm
What we need to do is pursue someone like a J.R. Smith, for a 6th man cause we dont know if Jamal is coming back. But yes we need a Premire Center and a Small Forward at least. We just need someone or elite players to make the Hawks elite in the East.
Tramarci
May 25th, 2011
12:49 pm
We don’t want Bynum. He is a thug. Refs are going to cut him no slack next season and he has that suspension coming. We want our Hawks. We are finally proud of OUR team again. The last game at PHillips all you heard was ATL, ATL, ATL! We need better coaching. We love our players. GO HAWKS!!!
55
May 25th, 2011
12:49 pm
First of all we have a power foward who doesn’t want to play power foward (J. Smith) and we have a center that is a true power foward (Horford) and a number five pick in the draft (Marvin Williams) that nevered panned out. We need to trade Josh Smith, while he got some value, Marvin Williams, and Kirk Hinrich to any team to get a starting center which will put Horford back at his true position.
Jay
May 25th, 2011
12:50 pm
Atlanta hawks need to make a trade for Dwight Howard and stop making all these other stupid trade rumors I’m hearing about.
Tramarci
May 25th, 2011
12:50 pm
Jamal loves having the green light. So unless LeBron or Kobe gives him a call, he will re-sign.
Bernard
May 25th, 2011
12:50 pm
Josh, Marvin,Hinnie for Dwight Howard!!!!!!
WTF?
May 25th, 2011
12:53 pm
Noooo Way. Bynum cannot stay healthy. And as much as people wanna bag on smoove, the hawks dont win 30 without him. shot better from 3 this season than J.J and always plays. If bynum played 65-70 games yeah make the move. but he is a chump who only wants to play in the playoffs. bad attitude and lazy and injury riddled. no thanks
ASHCAN.
May 25th, 2011
12:55 pm
Wow @ATLMAN86,Come down this is just friendly speculation on what we think could work, not facts.A str8 up trade with chandler or gasol in my OPINION will not be a fair trade for ATL.If possible,i would trade jj(Not worth his contract)and marvin gorilla booty williams for maybe D.williams(Who we suppose to have drafted in the first place)from the nets.Reason why is because jersey have deep pockets and could afford jj and m.williams contract.Then we can sign D.williams who would deserve jj’s contract.Well im just saying,this is all a speculation of dreams anyway.Like i said,i would get rid of jj before j.smith anyday.
renegade#1
May 25th, 2011
12:58 pm
Why and Who ever thought Joe Johnson was worth so much money wow what an overpaid super nothing.He ought to have a magic show cause he sure knows how to disappear. He can’t be an organ donor he has no heart.Keep Josh get rid of the albatross Joe Johnson use the money on five free agents.
Tramarci
May 25th, 2011
1:00 pm
@Jay Now that I could see. Think of Dwight with either Al or Josh. That’s not gonna happen though. Orlando doesn’t want to have to face him all season. The only way Orlando trades Dwight, will be a team out West. You can beat on that. The same Way the only way the Hawks trade Josh, it would be a team out West.
If the Lakers make the call to the Hawks for Josh it will be to lure Dwight to LA, to play alongside his lifetime friend.
But even if they want Josh, A trade with Orlando would have to include Bynum to Orlando. So Atlanta would be left out in the cold.
The Lakers want Dwight and Orlando is not gonna give him up, unless they get Bynum. We don’t want Artest or Gasol.
We have youth on our side and enough big men on our roster to where we don’t need to trade for one. So given up a gifted player like Josh Smith, would be the 2nd most dumbest move since the Dominique trade. The 1st being us taking Marvin. lol
MJC
May 25th, 2011
1:01 pm
@Anthony Davis
We do not want JR Smith. He is the worst decision maker in the NBA.
Realsquawk
May 25th, 2011
1:01 pm
Um what about trading Joe Johnson? How about that huh? Can he be traded yes! Will he be traded that is up to the ASG and all the teams vying for his services.
steve
May 25th, 2011
1:01 pm
Who cares!
Tramarci
May 25th, 2011
1:01 pm
*bet
Tramarci
May 25th, 2011
1:02 pm
@ Steve The people that have started buying Hawks tickets again; that’s who.
MJC
May 25th, 2011
1:03 pm
@Najeh:
I have been using that word frequently to describe some of the trade proposals people make on here. That might explain it.
Bzaust
May 25th, 2011
1:05 pm
J smoove and al horford are like best friends, where does this trade leave us when we want to resign horford a few years away?
Cornfuzed
May 25th, 2011
1:06 pm
I would do this deal in a heartbeat. Even if Artest we get nothing from Artest and have to bench or cut him, that’s still a good deal based on talent alone.
Notch Johnson
May 25th, 2011
1:07 pm
I’m with you LB, Howard would put some asses in the seats and points on the board.
djthescorpian
May 25th, 2011
1:09 pm
Never happen. The Lakers are after a superstar that would be Dwight. Bynum will be expendable to the trade bait for Dwight. Bynum will be in Orlando and Orlando will have a second round and maybe with cash, a future first round pick. Hawks: will have nothing. Why? For one the Hawks need to sell tickets and that’s the bottom line. Josh will sell tickets-I still believe that a coaching change minus M.W. and a couple of free agent acquisitions will bring the Hawks a “fresh paint” look and feel in the 2011-12 seasons without all of the shuffling of different players in and out of Atlanta. Management should let go of L.D. in training. He had his chance as a manager-trainee. L.D.’s grade as for being a rookie coach for the Hawk season and playoffs 2010-11: he earned a C, and I curved this grade. To Hawks management: I graded them a C-, for being cheap and lazy in their coaching search, and spending too much money on one single slightly above average player like J.J. From now on, stop being so cheap and finally, spend some $$ on hiring a proven NBA coach that will get these fans excited. Interview Fratello, Brown, Popovich, etc. L.D.’s contract was worth 1.3M which expires in 2012. I say buy out the remainder of that cheap contract, and be prepared to negotiate spending about 5.0M on a quality coach that players respect and have a proven track record. Maybe that can only happen with new ownership, but it has to happen. A good coach will know how to play the cards he’s dealt. I hope it will go in that direction. Players aren’t stupid: superstar players want to come to a team with a superstar coach. Management: you can’t be cheap with your selection of coach and offer a fat $ contract like J.J. without retribution. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.
Spud Webb
May 25th, 2011
1:10 pm
do it. i’d love that trade.
Man Man
May 25th, 2011
1:11 pm
Jeff Schultz
Are you going to Bash Josh Smith all season?The blog you should be making is trading Joe Johson to Cleveland for that # 4 Pick.
Josh Smith is not going anywhere as long as we have these owners.They absolutely love this man.
Mr.Wilkins not going to let the hawks do to Smith what they did to him!
Ya heard it first here
come on son
May 25th, 2011
1:12 pm
The reason the Lakers stay a top organization is by NOT doing trades like this. The talent level is not even comparable. Next idea.
scottm
May 25th, 2011
1:12 pm
Why don’t we gather up everything that isn’t bolted to the floor except our starting 4 (5 sans Smith), throw in our 1st round draft pick the next 3 years, and go after Dwight Howard
Halsey
May 25th, 2011
1:13 pm
Bynum has attitude and health questions. He may be a bigger headache for his team when he doesn’t have people around him with Championship experience. He might not respect the Hawks’ coach like he respects Phil Jackson and he might not respect Joe Johnson like he respects Kobe. Also, his knee problems aren’t going to get better with age.
Tramarci
May 25th, 2011
1:19 pm
@55 Second of all….
There is no one out there better than who we have. People are saying Al is a True power forward because of his height.
Magic Johnson was as 6′9 PG. Owe so I guess he wasn’t a True PG. lol Al is still one of the best centers in the league playing out of position. We saw him play PF in the Bulls series and it seemed as if he settled for jumpers the whole time.
We need Al and Josh in the paint. They still cause 90% of the teams in this league serious problems. For the other 10% we have enough big men on our roster to cause them problems. So now it comes down to coaching and utilizing what we have.
This team has not yet reached it’s peak.
Kapoonka
May 25th, 2011
1:21 pm
@sportslady….go iron some clothes. Bynum is young..very young….don’t blog about anything you have no knowledge of. Is my apple pie ready woman?????
//////
May 25th, 2011
1:23 pm
The Hawks should actually trade Smith and Williams for Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest. I think they should keep Hinrich. Also, they should do a sign and trade with Jamal Crawford, and ship him ,zaza pachulia , and pape sy to washington for Javel McGee and Jordan Crawford and 2nd round draft pick.
potential brusier lineup:
C- Andrew Bynum
PF – Al Horford
SF – Ron Artest
SG – Joe Johnson
PG – Jeff Teague
BENCH
PG – HINRICH
SG – JORDAN CRAWFORD
SF – DAMIEN WILKINS
C – JAVEL MCGEE
C – JASON COLLINS
C – HILTON ARMSTRONG
Lion's Den
May 25th, 2011
1:26 pm
Sic of the media – AJC crucifying Josh Smith everyday!
Josh Smith is NOT the HAWKS problem – good coaching and conditioning is the HAWKS main issue. Heck, they even had a chance to hire Doc Rivers and chose not to even interview the man before hiring Mike (7-man rotation) Woodson.
I can only imagine how good Josh would be today with the right man on the sideline. Can’t leave out ISO Joe consuming the shot clock with continuous dribbling…
Scott McDonald
May 25th, 2011
1:26 pm
Sure, How about Danny Manning and Jon Koncak in the mix also!!Bynum will NEVER be healthy.
Matt
May 25th, 2011
1:27 pm
Horford and Teague to Orlando for Dwight and Turkoglu
bulldogmaniac
May 25th, 2011
1:31 pm
Why dont we just trade Josh and sign Howard ourselves?
Alaree
May 25th, 2011
1:31 pm
HORRIBLE idea. Bynum gets hurt every other week and Artest is getting old… Josh is a good player just needs someone to discipline him!!!
Jeff Schultz
May 25th, 2011
1:34 pm
JDK — Has Bynum done anything like this dirty move before? Not sure that it’s a pattern. His bigger issues have been health.
Jeff Schultz
May 25th, 2011
1:37 pm
Captain America — I don’t want Arenas. Also, I don’t send that Dwight wants to come here and, therefore, wouldn’t sign a long-term deal.
Jeff Schultz
May 25th, 2011
1:40 pm
Slow News Day — Never claimed to be breaking news. Not all blogs break news, just designed to write something people want to discuss and I’ve gotten so much response from Josh column the other day I thought it was worthy. It got you to comment, didn’t it?
Anthony
May 25th, 2011
1:41 pm
I voted a thumbs down, because I think the Hawks should try to trade for Howard. The Hawks need to be very proactive in wanting to sign Howard. The have many pieces to give to get Howard. They have bodies and draft choices. Howard and Teague would be a great start to try and win a championship. The present Hawks will never win a championship. If Howard comes to Atlanta, you may get others who would want to move here too.
However if the Hawks can acquire Howard, than the Bynum for smith would be a good trade.
Anthony
Jeff Schultz
May 25th, 2011
1:42 pm
Jay, others –I’m sure Hawks and fans would love Dwight Howard. BUT . . . He’s not a free agent, he has 1 year left on his contract. They would only make a trade for him if he would sign a contract extension with them and there’s nothing to indicate he wants to play here, even though it’s his hometown. But I’m sure it’s worth a shot.
bigeasy830
May 25th, 2011
1:42 pm
Greg Oden will pprobably be a restricted free agent this summer> Rumors have it, Boston may be interested in him. Lets try to do a deal with portland involving Marvin Williams for him. Marvin makes 8 mil per and from what I have read the qualifying offer will be 8-9 mil for Oden. If hawks offer 3 or four years on him, I think he will eventually, well hopefully be healthy enough to be effective. When healthy Oden’s rebounds and block shots per game is not bad eventhough he have not averaged more than 23 min per game. I think oden at 8-9 mil per season for 3 our 4 years is worth the risk. We are still saddled with Marvins contract for 2 or 3 more seasons.
gadawgs
May 25th, 2011
1:43 pm
In a heartbeat!
Jeff Schultz
May 25th, 2011
1:43 pm
MJC — Some of your comments have been flagged by spam/obscenity/banned filter for one reason or another and I’ve released them periodically. I checked and you’re not on MY banned list but I can’t speak to others.
Mel
May 25th, 2011
1:45 pm
Glad most of yall aren’t GMs. Bring Dwight Howard home!!! Horford and Hinrich for Dwight or Horford and M. Williams for Dwight.
Maybe I’m biased because I’m from here, but how great would it be if Howard and Smith led us to a championship? What team could stop Teague and Johnson up top AND Howard and Smith down low? Its not possible! So Schultz, talk to whoever you need to talk with and lets make that happen!
gadawgs
May 25th, 2011
1:46 pm
And throw in Marvin Williams somewhere for towels, balls whatever we can get….
Jeff Schultz
May 25th, 2011
1:48 pm
Man Man — If you were Cleveland, would take Joe Johnson for the No. 4 pick?
CommonSense
May 25th, 2011
1:48 pm
It would be a coup for the Lakers as Smith will turn into an all star b/c Kobe will teach Smith how to be a professional (which is his biggest shortcoming). Smith never had a veteran to teach him by example the dedication and effort it takes to be a winner. Bynum will come and his knees will give out and Artest is well Artest.
Mr. Phil
May 25th, 2011
1:50 pm
This is a stupid idea for one reason:
Josh was not the problem (or at least not the only problem)with the team.
To win a championship the Hawks need better perimeter defense, rebounding, and to move J.J. to the 3 which will be less of a defensive drain on a what is already a pretty good defender.
This all gets accomplished by trading Josh (sorry I love you buddy) to the Clips for Kaman. Now you can move J.J., insert Hinrich and Teague and suddenly have a top tier defensive club with versatile offense. Keep Crawford with that and we will have bench to boot.
djthescorpian
May 25th, 2011
1:50 pm
Joe Johnson will still be here. Why? Other teams look at his huge fat 5 year contract as toxic. If you needed a player like Joe, would you buy out that fat contract? No. I didn’t think so. We got Joe for at least two to three more years’ period, whether we like it or not. Crawford-contract ($10,000,080) no extension expired 2010=gone. M. Williams-contract ($30,000,000) of which 1/4 is already flush down the toilet expires 2014=gone. Josh-contract thru 2013($25M) =stays. Horford-contract (5.9M) expires 2012=stay. Jamal wants to stay-used some $ that you will have by dumping Marvin with and pay Jamal. Why? We stay need his bench 20pts per game. J. Crawford’s a gun slinger. He can work on his body in this 2011 off season for defensive conditioning. Remember folks-you can’t give up your bench scorer’s pts per game. Defense can be taught and bought. Every other player’s contract is so low and has two years or less. It’s just not worth mentioning. Hawks-get your priorities in order. One last thing: watch very closely-what the Hawk will do with Hinrich. I did think he made an immediate impact in the way he plays the game of basketball-defensively and offensively. The Hawks would be fools not need to keep him, because they gave so much for him. Again, another grade of C-; they could’ve done better at the negotiating table, to keep JC2.
Mel
May 25th, 2011
1:52 pm
What about Brendan Haywood? He’s a starter on the bench in Dallas. I heard he wasn’t happy when Chandler came over.
oldmike
May 25th, 2011
1:57 pm
Not gonna happen. The focus should be on uloading JJ and his albatross of a contract. He is in steep decline. That said, what team would take him? Where does he fit. Maybe Orlando but only with Dwight there so who comes here that we would want. LA doesn’t need him. He’d be a greaqt fit in Chicago but who would we get back? And the #4 pick in this draft is stiff-ville. Not something which will improve the club near term which needs to happen.
Mr. Perfect
May 25th, 2011
2:01 pm
Starting Lineup:
PG Teague
SG Hinrich
SF Johnson
PF Horford
C Bynum
6th Man Jr Smith( wants to be in another place)
Role Zaza
Bench Wilkins( Good Defender)
Bench Collins
Role Williams9 (Rebounder) but sucks offensively