The Hawks will officially be on the clock now that Josh Smith has signed an offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Once they receive the signed offer sheet, the Hawks will have seven days to match the Grizzlies' five-year, $58 million offer. Smith's agent was expected to hand deliver the offer sheet to Hawks headquarters on Friday evening.

Allen Sullivan/aesullivan@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Josh Smith rejected a five-year $45 million offer from the Hawks last October.

The Hawks have maintained since Smith became a restricted free agent this summer that they will match any offer.

A member of the Hawks' public relations staff said general manager Rick Sund would not comment on the offer sheet.

While negotiations between Smith and the Hawks have been stalled for over a month, no one saw the Grizzlies' offer coming.

Though the Grizzlies were the only NBA team with significant cap space left, it was believed they would hold on to that cap space for the free-agent class of 2009.

Even if the Hawks match the offer, they'll have some damage control to do with Smith. He made visits to Philadelphia and Los Angeles (Clippers) to be wined and dined this summer.

Both the 76ers and Clippers opted for less risky situations — unrestricted free agent Elton Brand for the 76ers and a trade for Denver's Marcus Camby for the Clippers. They were moves that wouldn't tie up their salary cap space for the seven days the Hawks had to match an offer.

Smith's representatives have spent the summer stuck in slow-paced negotiations with the Hawks over a salary figure. The Hawks offered Smith a five-year, $45 million contract last October that he declined. They did not increase that offer this summer. The Grizzlies' offer is significantly more than that, an average of $11.6 million per season.

Similar negotiations with Josh Childress led the former Hawks sixth man to pursue his options, and he signed a three-year, $20 million offer from Greek powerhouse Olympiakos two weeks ago.