How much could Houston pay Josh Smith

[el gringos]

Does Houston have the ability, if they choose, to sign josh smith long term or at least to an above mle contract?


Without cap space is Houston limited?


If Enes, Greg Monroe, Middleton, Tobias Harris, b knight, and others are Max or near max contract players this offseason is it crazy to think there won't be teams throwing big offers Smiths direction?

[UK2K]

I think Smith would take a discount.

He's got his best man (literally) to play with. A star in Harden. An uptempo run and gun offense perfectly suited for him. And an established team to play on.

Why would he go anywhere else? Or better yet, after the Detroit disaster, who would want to pay him? The rockets offense allows him to be him. Nowhere else can he play like he's playing now.

[ALBballer]

I don't think he will get more than MLE type of money.

[NugzFan]

Only fans of a team think a player will take a discount to stay with their team.

[buddha]

if he signs a deal with player options he can opt when the cap increases and get a bigger deal with the rockets.

[UK2K]

Only fans of a team think a player will take a discount to stay with their team.

Other than money, which he will surely make as a member of the Rockets, why would he leave?

Honestly, how much is a team willing to pay him? $5m? Maybe 6m if a team is desperate? Would you pay $5m for Josh Smith?

So instead of 5m, is it unreasonable for him to stay in a warm climate playing with his childhood friends in a brand new arena on a free flowing offense perfectly suited to his playing style for, say, 3m?

[UK2K]

Oh yeah...

And no taxes either.

[HylianNightmare]

He won't be offered a max or near max deal

[IncarceratedBob]

People on LA radio are saying Lakers will offer a 3/40 type deal for Smith. Would be awful for my Lakers, he's not a legit NBA player anymore and he's a scumbag off the court. Had the pleasure to run into him a few times, was an asshole to my kid and his friends.

[smoovegittar]

Knicks won't go after him. End thread.

[Rake2204]

If Enes, Greg Monroe, Middleton, Tobias Harris, b knight, and others are Max or near max contract players this offseason is it crazy to think there won't be teams throwing big offers Smiths direction?

I think it depends upon one's definition of "big offers". From the looks of it, Smith has played some good ball in Houston more times than not (though his numbers - 43% shooting, 52% from the free throw line in particular, still aren't super stellar). Beyond the numbers, he's seemed to have given a lift to his team.

That said, after the debacle that was his entire tenure in Detroit, alongside the constant shot selection issues in Atlanta and whatnot, I feel it'd be an incredibly risky move for a team to hedge a significant amount of their bets to Smith as a free agent.

If his chemistry works with Dwight Howard, I say he needs to stay attached to the hip of Dwight Howard, because he was that awful during his time in Detroit. It's been a long time since I've seen a go-to player have as negative effect on a team as Smith did to start this season. So if he found something that works, he needs to ride that.

[NugzFan]

Other than money, which he will surely make as a member of the Rockets, why would he leave?

Honestly, how much is a team willing to pay him? $5m? Maybe 6m if a team is desperate? Would you pay $5m for Josh Smith?

So instead of 5m, is it unreasonable for him to stay in a warm climate playing with his childhood friends in a brand new arena on a free flowing offense perfectly suited to his playing style for, say, 3m?

Other than money...

[UK2K]

Other than money...

So 5m before taxes or 3m after?

Is it that much of a difference when speaking in terms of that kind of money?

[UK2K]

People on LA radio are saying Lakers will offer a 3/40 type deal for Smith. Would be awful for my Lakers, he's not a legit NBA player anymore and he's a scumbag off the court. Had the pleasure to run into him a few times, was an asshole to my kid and his friends.

I can't imagine any team paying him close to that.

His game has been a product of Houston's offense and the players around him. The Lakers have neither.

[sfballa13]

Smith is greedy but he isnt THIS greedy

The Rockets are a contender and he will be playing with his best friend, in a warm climate, and playing with the MVP

He already is making 14-15M, so another 5M would push him to 20M and make him one of the highest players in the league

He would a complete moron to go anywhere else UNLESS a team pays him 5M more over the course of 4-5 years (9-10M a year instead of 5M) then it may seem hard to leave an extra 20-25M on the table.