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And the Hawks likely won’t allow Josh Smith to walk without compensation. To attract more suitors, the club likely will offer Smith on sign-and-trade deals. However, Smith is seeking the maximum, and interested teams may decrease. Boston Globe

Atlanta Hawks, Trade, Josh Smith 

Atlanta coach Larry Drew is awaiting his fate, but with the Hawks having eight free agents, expect GM Danny Ferry to make wholesale changes. And the Hawks likely will not allow Josh Smith to walk without compensation. To atract more suitors, the club likely will offer Smith on sign-and-trade deals. However, Smith is seeking the maximum, and interested teams may decrease. Boston Globe

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Trade, Josh Smith 

When the cameras were turned off and almost everybody, Josh Smith said what he really thought. Of course he knew this was probably it. “As I walked off the court, everything just sort of hit me,” the Hawks’ forward said late Friday night. “Just the uncertainty of what the future holds. Just thinking about all of the relationships I’ve had here and the people who’ve crossed my path since I’ve been here. I just … I just don’t know.” Does he want to come back? “The only thing I know is I want to be able to experience free agency. I want to explore my options and see what’s out there. I don’t have any certain idea what’s going to happen.” He didn’t sound like a guy eager to return. The fact most in attendance Friday night didn’t sound eager for him to be back — screaming the usual “Nooooooooos!” when he pulled up for jumpers and booed when he missed — speaks volumes about the situation. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Josh Smith 

How much Smith’s shooting was because of poor decision making — the fans’ vote — and how much could be attributed to health reasons is uncertain. Smith conceded that the sprained ankle he suffered late in Game 2 bothered him the remainder of the series and hindered his ability to drive to the basket. But that doesn’t explain everything. “My shot just wasn’t going,” he said. Hawks coach Larry Drew, who has his own future to worry about, defended Smith. “As a team, we didn’t do a good job with our job selection. We settled. It wasn’t just Josh Smith,” he said. “Josh Smith, we need to remember, while a lot of people talk about his shot selection, he brings a lot of other things to the table. His effort against an All-Star, Paul George, was absolutely phenomenal. Josh is a versatile guy. He brings a lot to the table.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Josh Smith 

The Hawks will use the same starting lineup in Game 2 of their playoff series with the Pacers. The first unit will be Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, Kyle Kover, Josh Smith and Al Horford. “I think after every game, particularly a game where things don’t go as well (you consider change),” coach Larry Drew said Wednesday. “It’s not time for us to panic. From a lineup standpoint I want to stay with what has been good for us. Obviously, through the course of the game we’ll make changes. At times we’ll be smaller. At times we’ll be a little bigger. It’s definitely not a time to panic and shift things around. “In going back and looking at our first game with them, we didn’t do enough things well. If we correct a few things, it puts us in a better position.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Devin Harris, Kyle Korver, Al Horford, Josh Smith, Larry Drew, Jeff Teague 

Josh Smith will be in Atlanta's starting lineup Wednesday night at Indiana. The Hawks forward sprained his right ankle after stepping on Devin Harris' foot late in Sunday's 107-90 loss. Indiana leads the best-of-seven first-round series 1 -0. Coach Larry Drew said before the team's morning shootaround he expects Smith to be "full go." Smith adds he'll be "all right" and he's not thinking about the injury. ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, Injuries 

Josh Smith was a full participant in Tuesday's practice and is expected to be in the starting lineup when the Hawks take the floor in Game 2 of their first-round matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. "I should be all right," Smith said. "It's still a little sore but it's playoff time and I have to suck it up." Peachtree Hoops

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, Injuries 

Scott Agness: Josh Smith (sprained right ankle) did not practice today, per the Hawks. His status is day-to-day. Twitter @ScottAgness

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, Injuries 

It's easy to forget now, after they tried so hard to trade him in February, but the Hawks did want to sign Josh Smith to a contract extension before the season started. The figure shared with me this week: Atlanta's offer coming into the 2012-13 campaign was a three-year extension worth in excess of $45 million. Yet sources close to the situation say that the extension talks never got too deep because Smith made it clear from the start that he wanted to make it to free agency, which would enable him to sign a longer deal. League rules on extensions precluded the Hawks from offering anything longer than three extra years during the season. ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Trade, Josh Smith 

"The question was asked to me, 'Do I feel like I'm a max player?'" Smith continued. "And I gave him an honest answer. I said, 'Yes I do.' And the reason why I say this, is because if you don't know your worth, who will? I can't set my standards low. If you set them low, that's how people are going to view you. Like when you sell a house, you don't sell the house for $2 million. You put the $5 million sticker on there … and then you work it out. You negotiate." ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Josh Smith 

Which is why the quote about being a "max player" is more about respect than money. Appreciating the little things the 27-year-old Smith does on the court. "I believe I can be that," Smith said, when asked if he can develop into the type of scorer who is generally awarded a max contract. "But my thought process is, 'As the team succeeds, I succeed.' If we're a hell of a team, and we're playing well, individual accolades trickle down. "There's definitely still room for me to grow. I work on having more consistency with my jump shot. But every night it's not going to go in for you. But if you look at the intangibles, each and every night I play my all. I can pass the basketball well or I can sit on it and take the challenge on the defensive end. I still can block shots and get out and run." ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Josh Smith 

In 2008 he signed an offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies as a restricted free agent. The Hawks matched and that was that. "I went to Philadelphia and sat down with the Clippers for dinner because I was already out here in Los Angeles [where he now lives during the offseason] for an adidas photo shoot," Smith said. "So this is going to be exciting for me to travel to different cities, and sit down and talk to executives and GMs." ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Free Agency, Josh Smith 

"Sometimes I feel like my tithe to the church is being able to give back to my community," he said. "I grew up in poverty. I wasn't a rich kid. My dad drove trucks, 18-wheelers. "My mom had callouses on her hands from doing hair and using the curling irons. My dad used to unload the truck himself just to try and get extra money to buy me shoes. I had one pair of shoes, this pair of navy blue Converse he bought me. And I had to wear them with all my outfits at school and then turn around and play basketball in 'em. "So you know, I learned to appreciate the little things." ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith 

While the Bucks, Phoenix and Brooklyn pursued Josh Smith right up until the trading deadline, Smith told me Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and even New Orleans were in the mix. Racine Journal-Times

Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards, Trade, Josh Smith 

There were bright spots for the Hawks, who continued to fight despite not defending the dribble, iso-game very well. Mike Scott scored 19, Anthony Tolliver was 4-7 from three-point range and Jeff Teague was somewhat effective in a 17 point, seven assist effort. Josh Smith played directionless offensively without his 6'10 partner in frontcourt crime Horford and seemed to be the target of some comments from Hawks coach Larry Drew afterwards, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, Larry Drew 

Drew said the Hawks’ issues were again compounded by poor shots. “If you are not taking good shots, it’s as good as a turnover,” Drew said. “That is not anything we’ve haven’t talked about every road game we’ve played. We talk about our shot selection. We talk about not turning the ball over. We talk about limiting them to one shot and coming up with the rebound. When you take bad shots it’s as good as a turnover and tonight we took quite a few.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, Larry Drew 

Chris Vivlamore: Hawks' Josh Smith has attempted a career-high 172 3-pointers this season. 18 more than previous high. #ATLHawks Twitter @ajchawks

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith 

In free agency news, word is the Hawks’ first priority will be to keep unrestricted free agents Josh Smith and Kyle Korver during the off-season. If it proves too costly, the Hawks will shop one (or both) in a sign-and-trade. FOXSports Ohio

Atlanta Hawks, Free Agency, Trade, Kyle Korver, Josh Smith 

What changes offensively, with your positioning and shot selection, when you play at the three? Josh Smith: I'm more in the corners when I play the three. It's kind of like, you have to gauge what you have to do to be successful for the ballclub. When I'm at the three I try to slash a little bit and get some easy buckets in the paint, which opens up my perimeter game. If I have to knock down the open three point basket I try to shoot it with confidence. When you're playing at the three you're going to have possessions where it's going to call for you to take the open shot. You have to be able to space the floor and not clog it up for everyone else. Peachtree Hoops

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith 

You've become one of the better passers out of the post. What do you look for when the double comes to know where to go with the pass? JS: Just being aware of the situation, taking my time. Normally teams come on the bounce, so I try to not really rush into my moves and see what the defense is going to do, and if they don't come I try to go quick and be efficient in my moves. When you're at the four and Al's at the five, you run the four/five pick-and-roll as well as anyone as well as hitting Al on the slipped pin-downs, can you talk about the chemistry ya'll have with the hi-low game and why that works so well? JS: We're just trying to get each other involved in the game. Nothing's better than an easy basket, and we try to reward each other whenever we can on easy jump shots or easy dump downs. The game is so hard, they pile in on us in the paint on post-ups and try to make it hard for us to score whenever we have the ball on the perimeter. So we just try to make it a little easier on each other, and just looking for each other to open our games up and give us easy looks. Peachtree Hoops

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith