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Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2008 > July > 09
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Hawks catch break in Smith sweepstakes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There can be no excuses now. If Josh Smith plays elsewhere next season, it will be because the Hawks messed up or wimped out.
The Philadelphia 76ers were thought to be (and have indeed become) the major force in the free-agent bazaar, but they’ve deigned to spend $82 million on Elton Brand. Had the Sixers offered Smith something approaching that, the Hawks might well have blanched at matching it, choosing to work a sign-and-trade instead.
No other team is apt to tempt Smith so lavishly. He’ll probably sign an offer sheet, possibly with the Clippers, who are to free spending as Wilt Chamberlain was to monogamy. If you’re a team desperate to keep a free agent and your chief competitor is Donald Sterling — who just sank $65 million into Baron Davis — you haven’t just gotten lucky. You’ve gotten lucky like Jon Koncak got.
It was 19 summers ago that the Hawks were on the wrong side of the Koncak sweepstakes. The dastardly Detroit Pistons stuck it to their division rival by offering the free agent $2.5 million at a time when Michael Jordan was making $2.5 million. On the night in question, this correspondent called Koncak and asked if the $2.5 million was for two seasons, which seemed to make sense. “Dude,” said Koncak, scarcely believing it himself, “it’s for one.’ “
The Hawks were then faced with two lousy options: They could lose an asset, albeit a non-starting one, to their nemesis without compensation, or they could match the outrageous offer and keep the unassuming ‘Kak. They chose to lock him up long term at a cost of $13.1 million over six seasons, thereby skewing their salary cap for the better part of a decade. (Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t Pete Babcock who made the worst of a bad situation — Stan Kasten was the general manager.)
It’s unlikely Rick Sund’s feet will be held to a similar fire. With the Sixers sidelined, he shouldn’t have to match an offer that would bankrupt the cost-conscious Atlanta Spirit. He should be able to keep Smith for $60 million, give or take, which is a chunk of money but is less than Joe Johnson got three years ago. It should leave enough money to retain Josh Childress, too.
Michael Gearon Jr., the chief basketball voice among the many Spirit partners, has said it many times: “Our whole emphasis is keeping this core group together and letting it grow.” This summer is the time of testing: You can’t keep a young team intact without spending big when the young guys hit free agency, and the trouble with free agency is that it takes only one extravagant outsider to wreck your plans.
If any club was going to be the extravagant outsider, it figured to be Philly. The Sixers chose Brand instead. (Certainly they were influenced by his status as an unrestricted free agent, which meant no matching was possible and no sign-and-trade would be required.) And now Smith, who was given the grand tour of Philadelphia, has to find someone else to make him an offer.
Doubtless he will, but surely it won’t be an offer of Koncakian proportions. The Hawks had been holding their breath, waiting to see what the marketplace holds for the Joshes, and early returns must have touched off a round of exhales.
Yes, something screwy could still happen, but chances are it won’t. For one of the few times in their star-crossed existence, the Hawks seem to have caught a break. Let’s see if they know what to do with it.
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