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Monday, July 21, 2008
Dollars and Sense?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - That’s the only thing standing between the Hawks right now and signed contracts for both Josh Smith and Josh Childress.
The Hawks have the dollars to spend (they can bust the bank to sign both of these young cats to extensions) but don’t appear to have the sense of urgency where these two guys are concerned.
If they do, they have a strange way of showing it (daily contact with your free agents apparently does not indicate that it’s anything more than high-stakes phone tag to keep up appearances).
So much has been made here about Josh Smith and how his summer is playing out (more about that in a minute), but what of Josh Childress?
He is absolutely considering an offer to play overseas, Olympiakos in Greece, this season (as first reported last night by Yahoo! Sports) with the Hawks having no right to match an offer from an overseas team. This is getting nuts.
How in the world has it come to this for the Hawks and their own free agents?
Here we are, working on three weeks now without so much as a hint that the Hawks and these free agents are speaking the same (salary range) language.
That wouldn’t normally be cause for concern. But since it’s the Hawks and this is July (soon to be August), my sonar is bleeping like crazy.
It’s going to be mid-August before you know it, and the Hawks are still going to be bogged down in negotiations that are far enough apart that neither the agents nor the team are willing to speak on it publicly (as has been the case so far for both sides, no one has spoken on the record about this stuff yet).
Something just doesn’t add up folks.
There was never a reported offer to Childress last October (and I’ve never been able to confirm if there was one or not), so it’s hard to know what the Hawks had in mind had they been having those sorts of concrete conversations then.
If Olympiakos is indeed talking about a robust $20 million over three seasons (with the Hawks retaining Childress’ NBA rights, with a qualifying offer, the next two summers), Childress or any other professional athlete has to seriously consider that offer.
If this is all a ploy to put the heat on the Hawks, as one Hawks’ staffer insists it is, then Childress’ agents (Lon Babby and Jim Tanner) did a great job. Because once again the Hawks look like the cats left holding the bag
SMITH, TOO: How the sides could be this far apart where Smith is concerned makes little to no sense at all. If the Hawks were offering a starting salary of $9 million last October (as reported here last summer when it was clear that a deal was going to be tough to come by before the Oct. 31 deadline), before Smith’s stellar season that culminated with a playoff berth and some rather huge moments from Smith, both sides should certainly be working in upwards of that range now. I don’t think anyone’s ever uttered anything about max money for Smith. But certainly something along the lines of what Kevin Martin ($55 million) and Al Jefferson ($65 million) re-upped for before the 2007-08 season.
A member of the previous Hawks’ front office administration famously argued me down (to the folks who saw us debating the topic at least) before a preseason game that there was no way Smith or Childress should get extensions last summer or fall because the Hawks hadn’t been to the playoffs, as if they alone were responsible for it not happening prior to our verbal showdown.
“If you feel that way,” I told him, and this is a direct quote “all of you clowns should resign on the spot or be fired for making colossal mistakes with choice draft picks most teams would die for.”
My argument then and now goes something like this, if the Hawks believe at all in their scouting, coaching and training staffs and how they pick talent, develop it and nurture it - if they feel confident at all that they did the right things in drafting these guys and feel they’ve progressed at a sufficient or better rate - paying the cash for extensions is merely a procedure. The figures need to be fair and probably a bit on the generous side, what with all the extra curricular activity these players have had to deal with in their four tumultuous years as staples of a beleaguered the franchise. If there was ever any doubt whatsoever, even the slightest bit … the Shelden Williams approach would have been the proper way to end the relationship.
Instead, we’re heading into the tall grass section of yet another endless summer.
NOT THE SAME GAME: All that said, the former Hawks’ staffer I debated this with nine months ago made some good points to the contrary. He pointed to Charlotte’s Emeka Okafor ($60 million turned down) and Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala ($57) and the Chicago duo of Ben Gordon ($57 million) and Luol Deng ($50 million) and argued that they were all in a class above both Smith and Childress.
I didn’t agree with him then and I certainly don’t agree with him now, not even close. But that wasn’t even the point I was trying to make. Those teams extended offers that were legit at the time and are probably overdoing it now (at least in a couple of cases). If the Hawks were playing in that same realm, then or now, I can’t imagine they would have to endure Tom Foolery that has stained the franchise this month (the negative vibes, real and imagined, are all over the place).
As one of the players said to me last week during mini-camp, “What the #!*% is going on around here? That playoff series against Boston is getting further and further away and it’s like we haven’t had any good news since then.”
OPTIONS: That brings us to the options portion of today’s program, for both the players and the Hawks.
Smith and Childress, by virtue of their status as restricted free agents, only have three options at this point. They can a) come to terms with the Hawks on extensions (best case) or b) find the right sign-and-trade deal that appeases all sides (good luck) or c) bolt for a team overseas or play out the year on qualifying offers far below their true value and at great risk (someone in this restricted free agent class is bound to do it, with Childress quickly assuming the mantle of trailblazer now that he’s seriously considering the offer to play in Greece).
Naturally, a) would the ideal. But b) offers some intrigue. And c) would place the player and the franchise smack in the middle of a potential firestorm if things go awry for this team early in the season, the finger pointing would be intense if this team went into training camp with not only Mike Bibby playing out the final year of his deal but also the Joshes.
It’s something that you don’t even want to think about going sideways, particularly after all the progress that’s been made.
THE REIGN IS OVER: Since we decided against making the trip with the Hawks’ summer league crew this year, ending Blog-Z’s seven-year reign of terror on the fine folks of Salt Lake City, like you I’m left to get eyewitness updates from people who are there watching that mesmerizing action in person for the goods on Acie Law IV and the boys.
The Mad VP is on the scene, blogging live from the site and posting his stuff on Hawks.com after games. I’ve already warned him to tone it down (he doesn’t need to be too good or too funny, otherwise he’ll put us out of business).
But he has provided some quality commentary and insight into the goings on out there that you might want to check out if the summer league team is your focus right now.
The Hawks carried a 2-0 mark into Sunday’s off day, posting impressive wins over Dallas and Utah in their debut set. Jeremy Richardson appears to have shaken off whatever the ill effects of that twisted ankle were and is shooting the ball particularly well.
Luke Jackson (keep an eye on dude, he’s a shooter with size and he’s got some NBA experience) also seems to have gotten off to a nice start out there.
Acie Law IV and Speedy Claxton are the guys most people were focused on heading out there and they’ve both had their moments, with Claxton showing well in the opener and then Law taking over things late in the second game.
I’ve learned my lesson with summer league, however. Whatever goes on there is merely a glimpse and not the full story about a guy.
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