The Hawks don't appear any closer to a resolution on Josh Smith's future than they were a month ago. His status with the team has been unresolved since the NBA's free agency period began July 1.

But that doesn't mean Smith isn't on the mind of at least one of his potential teammates.

Pouya Dianat / AJC (ENLARGE)

Hawks general manager Rick Sund (left) and guard/forward Maurice Evans show the jersey Evans will don after joing the team.

RELATED STORIES Childress heading back to Greece  Hawks' core excited to stay together  8 biggest off-season moves -- and expectations         More Hawks coverage

New Hawks swingman Maurice Evans brought Smith's name up unprompted 90 seconds into his opening statement during Thursday's news conference at Philips Arena, where he was introduced and presented with his Hawks jersey.

"Whenever you played here you knew you were going to have to deal with all these athletes, all these guys who could run and jump and block shots, guys like Josh Smith," said Evans, who will wear the No. 1 jersey vacated by Josh Childress. "You hope that things will take place and that we can get him back in uniform and go after a playoff spot again."

The Hawks lost Childress to a Greek team last week that offered a three-year, $20 million contract. Smith is the Hawks' other coveted restricted free agent. While he isn't a candidate to follow the trend of NBA players bolting overseas, his status for the upcoming season is far from resolved.

"One of the things that I think is important in the process is to have the integrity and professionalism to not negotiate in the newspapers," Hawks general manager Rick Sund said. "I said that in the beginning to Josh Smith's [representatives] and they haven't said a whole lot. They've done an excellent job representing their client. The bottom line is we've had a lot of dialogue, but it's not done yet."

What exactly needs to get done remains a mystery.

Smith's agents don't view the process the same way Sund does.

"We don't feel like there has been much difference in our conversations from July 1 until now," Wallace Prather said Thursday. "But I'm optimistic that in the end what is best for Josh is what will happen."

A team with Smith, Childress and Evans in the same rotation was the original blueprint, Sund said. But an unpredictable free-agent summer has wreaked havoc on the scripted plans.

Evans wasn't sure where he was going to end up before the Hawks' offer. He also entertained overtures from European teams, as well as several other NBA teams.

He found security, in a three-year deal worth $2.5 million a season, and opportunity in the same place with the Hawks. They were a team Evans kept an eye on last season when he was starting for Southeast Division rival Orlando.

"Obviously, it's important when you go to the playoffs and hadn't been in a long time, you probably don't want to shake things up too much," Evans said. "In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes teams make is when you're having success and then you try to bring in different pieces that might upgrade your situation and you end up downgrading it. And now you've set yourself back. You can't afford to take those steps back.

"I'm hoping my acquisition and keeping this team intact will really allow us to keep moving forward. Because the East has gotten better throughout free agency. It was a wild free-agency summer to say the least, but I'm really happy with my situation and really happy with Rick bringing me here and hoping it will be a good situation for everybody."