NBA
NBA Rumors: Rockets the Favorites for Josh Smith
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated06 Nov 2023
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Houston has strengthened its position as the frontrunner to sign Josh Smith, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 23, 2014
via Twitter
The Rockets are one several suitors who immediately emerged in the surprising race for Josh Smith’s services. The Miami HEAT, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks have also been linked to him, but Real GM’s Shams Charania reported that Smith is only interested in playing for a team that is contending or playoff bound.
The Rockets fit that description perfectly, and have three other important factors working in their favor: The presence of Smith’s longtime friend Dwight Howard, a potential starting role and the bi-annual exception. Terrance Jones was the projected starting power forward for them this season, but he’s missed the majority of the year due to injury. The other contending teams, outside of the HEAT, who applied for a disabled player’s exception that they hope to use on Smith, can only offer the minimum.
Smith will clear waivers in 48 hours and should make his decision in relatively short fashion.
The Indiana Pacers approached some of their players about bringing back Lance Stephenson, but they were reportedly not encouraging of the scenario.
The Pacers were worn out of Stephenson by the end of last season
The Hornets have been aggressively shopping Stephenson, a signing that they started to regret almost immediately, but the market hasn’t been very vast. The Pacers and Brooklyn Nets were the only two teams that seemed open to the possibility, but the Nets want to unload undesirable contracts and the Pacers want a first-round pick in return. The Hornets would rather cut their losses without giving up the pick, but this could put a halt to talks with the Pacers regardless of their willingness to meet their asking price. Stephenson hasn’t made a great impression on his new teammates either.
Perhaps the Hornets take a page out of the Pistons’ playbook and use the stretch provision on Stephenson since they’re having no luck trading him. He’s owed less than Smith was and the playoffs are still within reach despite their horrendous start.
Indeed, the Lakers sitting out there with bags of money spooked the Celtics. Los Angeles made perfunctory offers, but really preferred keeping its powder dry until July.
Another report said that the Celtics were interested in injured rookie Julius Randle as a potential trade chip in a deal for Rondo, but the Lakers couldn’t risk giving up their best young piece for a player who could leave in free agency this summer.
Internally, the Lakers are probably hoping that Rondo’s tenure with the Mavericks goes south this season and that they still have a chance to sign him in free agency. However, given how ideal of a fit the Mavericks seem for him and the fact that he’s already made it clear he’s open to staying there long-term, they should probably start pinpointing other point guard targets.
