Hawks Almost Traded J-Smoove to Bucks?
The Hawks wanted to trade Josh Smith to Milwaukee on deadline day. They fully expected to, frankly.
But Atlanta, from the start, wanted Monta Ellis back from Milwaukee. The only Buck with long-term money they were willing to take back instead, according to sources close to the process, was Ersan Ilyasova.
Sources say Milwaukee, however, was not willing to put Ellis or Ilyasova into the deal. Which left the Hawks with two choices: Trade Smith to Milwaukee for a package featuring Beno Udrih’s expiring contract paired with forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute … or keep Smith beyond the deadline and risk seeing him walk away from Atlanta in the summertime without compensation.
The Hawks opted for the latter, figuring that the options they’ll still have with Smith — whether that means re-signing him, working with him on a sign-and-trade or even losing him outright — all trump the idea of cutting into future salary-cap space by acquiring Mbah a Moute and the nearly $9 million left on his contract over the next two seasons.
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