ajcsportstalk

By Rico Niles

August 8, 2008 10:37 PM | Link to this

Absolutely, Josh Smith is worth 75 Million. Come on, where is the love for probably your most gifted player that hustlses 100%. Defense, Offense, Assist, you name it he does it. Who else in the NBA fills up the Stat sheet in every category Every night?

By travis

August 8, 2008 10:41 PM | Link to this

I got my season tix already. I am happy that he is back!!

By BLUE EAGLE

August 8, 2008 10:45 PM | Link to this

EVERY PENNY

By travis

August 8, 2008 10:50 PM | Link to this

the hawks had no choice but to sign him. there was no need to “fret”. the hawks would have lost two players for nothing. i knew they would sign him. Bibby is outta here by the trade deadline!! bibby 14mil, jj 13mil, smoove 11mil. THE QUESTION NOW IS WHO DID WE BRING IN BY THE TRADE DEADLINE?

By Maurice

August 8, 2008 10:51 PM | Link to this

Great job, Hawks!

By crystal

August 8, 2008 10:51 PM | Link to this

THANK GOD THEY MATCHED OFFER AT A BARGAIN PLACE IF U ASK ME. JOSH IS WORTH AT LEAST 60 MILLION PLUS ESPECIALLLY WITH THE OTHER GUYS IN HIS CLASS GETTIN MUCH MORE AND DOIN MUCH LESS. I AM STILL MAD AT THE FACT U DIDNT SING J-CHILL BUT OH WELL TIME TO MOVE ON AND CAPITALIZE ON LAST SEASON HOPEFULLY ALL IS NOT LOST MOMENTUM WISE. ASG KNOW IF THEY WOULD HAVE LET SMOOV GO NO ONE WOULD BE COMING TO THE GAMES AT ALL.

By Joshua

August 8, 2008 10:53 PM | Link to this

look we all thought it sucked cause it took so long but we got smith for cheaper then he wanted and now we can focus on bringing in another veteran and maybe someone from the summer league and the Hawks will be fine .

By TRAVIS

August 8, 2008 10:54 PM | Link to this

where is RAD? he sed something about “his” sources saying that the contract would be faxed over at 8:00 in the morning and rad would keep us posted. HA!! i gess your source was not a source at all

By Brian

August 8, 2008 10:57 PM | Link to this

nobody is worth 58 million a year…

NOBODY.

By Brian

August 8, 2008 10:57 PM | Link to this

nobody is worth 58 million over 5 years…

NOBODY.

By John

August 8, 2008 11:01 PM | Link to this

We overpaid for Joe Johnson so why not overpay for Josh Smith as well. This is the reason I stopped going to Hawks games, poor management. This people who think he is worth it are not real fans of b-ball and don’t know the game.

By Ray Eck

August 8, 2008 11:04 PM | Link to this

I do not believe Josh S is worth what the Hawks had to pay him but that is what the going rate is for a player of his stature gets this year. He does not listen to the coaches all of the time & is still to inconsistent in his play. BB is a team game that only winners play with their heart & soul. Now for the amount that was offered for Josh C - that was a disgrace & the Hawks will regret it this season. Hopefully next year they will get their act together & sign him to a contract worth his abiltiy & position with the team. Maybe they can sign Anderson also.

By travis

August 8, 2008 11:08 PM | Link to this

bryan, whatever, tell that to MJ, Tiger, Oprah, Bill Gates, or the guys who founded GOOGLE! a person is worth whatever the market says it is worth. is a steak worth $20, if you eat at RUTH’S CRISS STEAKHOUSE, you would think so. if you eat at RYAN’S, a steak would not be worth $20. don’t say what a person is worth, let the market do that

By Timothy

August 8, 2008 11:11 PM | Link to this

Finally, the Spirit Group made something right out of a wrong …

By Public Relations

August 8, 2008 11:15 PM | Link to this

Kudos to the AJC for the blogs and polls that accompanied this off-season saga - after the Childress gaffe the ASG had no choice other than to avoid the public relations nightmare losing JSmith would have caused - we can’t let the ASG off the hook though because they could have offered this type of deal way earlier in which case a sign and trade could have been part of the picture - the ASG made a strategic blunder by playing hardball and it only frustrated JSmith, caused JChill to bolt for Europe and ticked off a bunch of potential season ticket holders

By Ryder

August 8, 2008 11:35 PM | Link to this

The Childress issue is so overblown, he was a very overrated player and not worth the money the Hawks threw at him. So I don’t blame the Hawks for letting him go….

….as for Smith, when you’re in the position the Hawks are in, you sometimes have to overpay to make things happen.

That said, I am glad they kept him, it shows that they are committed to building a winner, and he fills up the stat sheet and is a presence on this team.

My only thing is how the Hawks will build their lineup. It’s obvious that Woodson was not a big fan of the BK vision of all swingmen, so I do expect to see Smith moved back to the SF spot. With Morris around to fill up the big man spot off the bench, the Hawks can place Al Horford at the 4 where he would be more of a threat.

As for Bibby, I think the Hawks will let the 15 Million come off the books in the offseason and let Acie Law take the reigns afterwards. It’s the only sensible move so they can use the cap space to get some more depth.

By hirsutedawg

August 8, 2008 11:35 PM | Link to this

Brian & John are obviously morons. The Hawks had no choice but sign J Smoove. He’s the heart & soul of this moribund franchise. After letting J Chill walk what else can we hang our hat on? As a native Atlantan and long time Hawks fan I say the city of Atlanta deserves better than the ownership we’re stuck with. Hello Mr. Stern?????

By Hawksville Resident

August 9, 2008 12:29 AM | Link to this

Thank God they matched the offer! There is no way I would ever believe the BASG if they would have let Josh go to Memphis!

I mean we are conditioned in Atlanta to expect the worse so when Memphis sent the offer I almost cancelled my season tickets then, but hopefully this is just a start of alot of pleasent surprises!?

By Enrique

August 9, 2008 12:33 AM | Link to this

We [the Hawks] tried to still two players this off season and stole 1. Getting Smoove back was very important. I’d rather have Chill than Mo, but Mo is ok. Al has vastly improved this off season and IF Marvin is CONSIDERABLY better were looking good; IF Bibby is HEALTHY. A lot of IF’s, but our roster is one of the top six in the eastern conference. Go HAWKS!!! And no, this signing does not give us an eastern conference title in five year unless King James gets hurt. We will have a legitimate shot though.

By JEREMY M> F> SMITH

August 9, 2008 1:25 AM | Link to this

Seriously, only 11.6 million per year for ages 23-28 of one of the biggest up and coming players in the NBA. Definsive beast avg. 17 n 8+ at 22? Get on the bandwagon, this boy is ATL’s future.

GO JAGUARS!!!!!!!!!

By We Need Josh Smith

August 9, 2008 3:51 AM | Link to this

I’m glad the hawks matched the offer, but he deserves as max contract, even if not based on his skill, simply based on what he means to this city and the organization…GO JOSH SMITH!!! HAWKS GET IT TOGETHER!!!

By Najeh Davenpoop

August 9, 2008 4:16 AM | Link to this

If Andrew Bogut is worth $72 million and Rashard Lewis is worth $115 million, Josh is easily worth more than $58 million. The A.S.S. should be thanking their lucky stars that their ineptitude didn’t come back to haunt them.

By **NATIVE SON**

August 9, 2008 7:38 AM | Link to this

To wit: The ASG has psychologically whupped all our tails. Instead of Barney Fife, they in fact, may be more like Sosa from ” The Usual Suspects “. So, I’m giving them some love on this one. That being said,Sometimes, the expectation of recieving a gift, is more exciting than the gift.” PEACE FROM THE NATIVE

By Darrin "The Vent King"

August 9, 2008 7:50 AM | Link to this

Thank God! I was really worried about this one. I’ve been grew up and have been living in Atlanta 30+ years and it has always seemed the owners of the teams around here ALWAYS do the oppositie of what the true ATL fans want, from letting Neon Deion go to trading Dominique Wilkins for a pair of bad knees named Danny Manning. Maybe the ASG were being smart, which seems hard to believe, and let the market set Smoove’s value, but after rehiring Mike Woodson and letting Greece steal one of our better players, they had me scared. Plus, I think J-Smoove will get his wish and see Woodson gone before this contract is up anyway. I believe Woody won’t even make it through next season. So, gulp, nice job of retaining J Smoove ASG, you FINALLY got something right!!

GO HAWKS!!!!!

By Darrin "The Vent King"

August 9, 2008 7:54 AM | Link to this

And oh yeah, dam skippy Josh is worth 58 mil…probably more.

By jopanoy

August 9, 2008 7:59 AM | Link to this

Finally ASG does the “right” thing. Don’t stop here though, we still need more pieces!

By Harry the Hawk

August 9, 2008 9:28 AM | Link to this

I am so glad they signed Josh…keeps me from swooping over the Gearon’s head(s) and pooping on ‘em.

By Brad

August 9, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this

He’s worth it. Look at the contracts that were givin out this off season. He is one of the most talented free agents signed this year and the one with the most up side (only 22!!). The free agents in his skill level were getting 10-13 million a year. This team actually looks pretty good. PG Bibby, SG J.Johnson, SF Josh Smith, PF Al Horford, C Morris. Bench is pretty strong—Marvin, Acie, Zaza, and dont forget Evans—he STARTED last year for a very good Magic team.

By SMB

August 9, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this

Josh Smith needed to be signed. point blank. (And HA at market value, got him back for a steal.) Step one of the offseason is done. little late, but its done. i was never a fan of childress so i’m not even gonna go there. Next step is finding out what to do with that guy they called the #2 draft pick a few years back… Im a fan of finding a good big and putting duck on the bench if we can, but its not likely we catch someone better than williams this late in the offseason. so id say lets work on getting rid of the DUCK via trade and we are in buisness! Marvin for Camby anyone? Duck and zaza for ricky (ive always been a fan of and im not sure y) davis and camby? that would make my breakfast taste a lil better! (heck, id even go bibby and duck for camby and B.davis/cash even tho we loose some youth)

By GIlley

August 9, 2008 10:07 AM | Link to this

RIP Bernie Mac

But JOsh smith is worth much more than the deal and he has to show why he is more than ever this upcoming season but not with Joe Johnson taking all da shots

By Kellie

August 9, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Yes he’s worth it. In scanning the posts, I just read a comment that we overpaid for Joe so why not overpay for Josh….Are you crazy??!! Joe is worth every penney and then some!!! I’m sooooo glad we got Joe and I’m happy we are Josh is staying at home where he belongs. I have been a season ticket holder for a few years now and never been more excited about an upcoming season. I Love Joe, Josh, and Al!!! Let’s Go Hawks!!! :)

By Mike

August 9, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this

Yes, he’s worth it. Funny that everyone thinks he’s worth tons more, but they are still bashing the ownership that managed to get him locked up long-term at a discount. They offered Childress what he was worth — maybe more — and he turned them down to go to Europe for much more than he was worth, but they get blamed for that, too. I think they’re doing fine. If this were, say, the Spurs’ ownership everyone would be going on and on about their patience and good judgment.

By the way, great reporting on this issue throughout, Sekou. And nice interview with Marvin Williams.

By Billy

August 9, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this

I was starting to think that the Hawks were gonna screw this one up too!

By Tree Rollins

August 9, 2008 1:50 PM | Link to this

The Hawks got their man - THANKS TO THE GRIZZLIES. Does this executive and ownership team know how to do ANYTHING right?? So they sign J. Smith with the help of the Grizzlies and he’s not even happy to be back - for $58Million. All because the Hawks don’t have a clue how to negotiate or run a team. You can tell he gives all the credit to the Grizzlies for this - none to the Hawks, and he’s obviously unhappy about the Childress situation as we all are. The ineptitude of the Spirit Group, coach and GM is beyond belief!!!

By JohnGTFan

August 9, 2008 2:32 PM | Link to this

I do agree that this offer had to be matched. However, some people are really goofy, or just plain blind, to say JS hustles “100%” of the time. Let’s hope this new contract will help him grow up and stop whining all the time. Maybe now he will hustle “100%” of the time!!! All the talent and potential…he certainly has it!!! I’m hoping he applies it for 82 games!!!

By kj

August 9, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this

all that needs to be s is YES

By Keith

August 9, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this

Yes. Yes. Yes.

By Mark

August 11, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this

What a joke, no way he is worth $58 mil. The fact that people are defending it makes it that much more sad. These same people will be here in 2 months talking about “why did the Hawks raise ticket prices, I can’t take my family to the game” wah wah wah.

By frank

August 11, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this

so how much of the $58 mill does sekou get as his agent?