The Phoenix Suns were one of the first teams in the Josh Smith trade rumors during the final days of January, but reports were struck down by Phoenix radio personality John Gambadoro shortly after. On Monday, the rumors ratcheted up once again, but it's still unclear exactly how Phoenix could work out a deal to land the Atlanta Hawks forward.
Josh Smith rumors: Reports vary on likelihood of deal with Suns
The Phoenix Suns might want to trade for the Atlanta Hawks’ Josh Smith, but it’s unclear how a deal would get done if center Marcin Gortat is not involved.
Josh D. Weiss-US PRESSWIRE
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Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com first reported Phoenix’s interest in Smith, and he again said that interest remained on Tuesday. ESPN’s Marc Stein, CBS Sports’ Ken Berger and Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski also said on Monday night that the Suns were inquiring about Smith.
Logically, the Suns would need to include center Marcin Gortat in any such deal, but ESPN's Chris Broussard says that is unlikely to be the case.
If Phoenix can’t give up the player with the most trade value, then it’s hard to see how the Suns would be in consideration to get a deal done.
The likelihood of Phoenix hashing out a trade for Smith becomes murky seeing as the franchise has little else to offer Atlanta outside of draft picks, which are reportedly something the Hawks covet. The Suns will likely have two lottery selections in the 2013 NBA Draft, and one of those picks is contingent on the Lakers missing the playoffs.
And with several other teams at least making calls to Atlanta regarding Smith, Phoenix has a good deal of competition in the sweepstakes.
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