Mr. Smith visits Philly...

[jemagee]

I'm not sure why the sixers would be any more under the gun than before, the warriors and clippers are fighting out over brand, and i don't think the warriors would then turn to smith, they have two pretty young athletic PF, they don't need a third, i think the brand offer is more spite than anything else...and that's going to take a while to work out (and i believe in the end he ends up back with the clip joint)

I dont believe there's any more pressure and I don't think the sixers should feel pressured and thus over offer, they probably made an offer and smith wants them to try and do a sign and trade because then he can get more base money, better raises, and an extra year...and no offers can be made officially until July 9th...i don't see any more 'pressure' than before, the time was what the time was and still is...6 days until you can do anything real anyway

[Skates]

Yeah, I get the feeling this is another episode of how to use Philly to crank up the extension from your own team.  I know they can't sign a deal now, but a verbal agreement is certainly possible and it doesn't sound like they are closing to getting that.  The money from GS is a complicating factor as well.  I am not going to hold my breath on this guy and if another opportunity came to the surface I would consider moving on if he won't verbally commit.  If there is nothing else in the same tier of opportunity out there, then I guess we wait and see.  The optimism scale for Josh coming here is sinking steadily.

Depending on what GS does and who they grab in FA, I think there may be some opportunity there to get in on Biedrins or possibly Brandan Wright via trade.

[anklebreaker]

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53386/20080704/josh_smith_leaves_philly_without_contract_offer/

Strange read.  Smith says an offer hasn't been made, while his agent refused to comment saying he doesn't want to play this thing through the media. 

[Derek Bodner]

Isn't it hard for an offer to be made when the Sixers cap room hasn't been determined?

It's not like we're golden state, where regardless of what the cap is set at, we'll have max.  Our max will be determined in 5 days.

[anklebreaker]

Yeah, I understand that.  SF mentioned something about us making a verbal offer saying we'd throw all of our cap space at him... so I guess both parties are just waiting for that number to be determined.   

[tk76-]

I've been a bit on the fence about spending all our cap on Smith, but I think I'm now fully on board.  This is X-post from what I posted on Real-GM (actually some good stuff their tonight.)  No real original thoughts, just trying to picture some line-ups/rotations...

I think with JSmith, Skates' point about him fitting in better now that we drafted Speights sways me to be in favor of signing him. Worst case, we have a young, valuable talent added but still a big hole in the low block- we could always move Thad/Iguodala/Smith later for a post player when the right one is available. You can never have too much young talent, and the minutes are there to keep everyone happy, even if the lack of low post scoring limits the teams ceiling.

With Smith, team success will depend on whether Thad and Speights develop into legit post threats.

Best case, Thad and Speights develop into formidable low post weapons. Thad as a SF/PF, and Speights as a PF/C. One can be on the court at all times, and you just mix in Smith/Sam/Iguodala. There are plenty of minutes to keep everyone happy, and you would always have some post scoring and great athleticism on the floor.

Here are some line-ups (PG excluded)
Iguodala-Thad-Smith-Sam
Lou-SF-Speights-Sam (Sf=Iguodala, Young or Smith)
Iguodala-Thad-Smith-Speights

Shooting is a bit weak for every line-up. we would need to find a great shooting PG (Hinrich?). But every line-up has defense, rebounding, post play and crazy athletes. Plus we can vary size
for match-ups going big or small. I also am optomistic that next to a good shooting PG, Thad, Iguodala, Lou, Smith, Speights and Sam all can be decent to good jump shooters- at least enough to be a threat. Other than Sam and Smith, I think they all make good choices about when to shoot and pass.

[sixers hoops]

Yeah, I understand that.  SF mentioned something about us making a verbal offer saying we'd throw all of our cap space at him... so I guess both parties are just waiting for that number to be determined.   

Right. They currently have 11.4 with their projected cap number; however they could have between 12 and 12.5.

So that would make the year 1 salary higher and increase his yearly raises. With the 11.4 cap space they would offer 5 year, 67 million or so. With another million in the first year the total deal may go up to 71 million or so.

I hope the Hawks don't work a sign-and-trade with us. While that would remove the possibility of them matching, it would also have us probably throwing them a draft pick, a player, and giving Smith more money.

I barely like Smith at the current deal. If we give him significantly more through a sign-and-trade and have to throw in a pick, I would rather look elsewhere.