NBA Rumors: Atlanta Hawks Must Trade Overrated Josh Smith

If Josh Smith wants to be traded, then there's no reason the Atlanta Hawks should think twice about sending the overrated forward to another team.

Via the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

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Even as Josh Smith is having a strong season for the Hawks he has let the team know he wants to be traded as the March 15 deadline approaches, according to people with knowledge of Smith’s thinking.

And the reasons for Smith’s dissatisfaction with the team now have to make the Hawks wonder if they will be able to sign him to a contract extension next season.

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Smith is a good player but he's not a reliable No. 1 or even No. 2 option on a team with NBA championship aspirations.

He clearly isn't happy that the team is not a true championship contender, but that's not the only reason he's upset with the Hawks.

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The person said one of Smith’s complaints is that he believes the Hawks didn’t do enough to promote him for selection to the All-Star team, which he thinks contributed to lesser players being voted to the team by Eastern Conference coaches. 

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I hate to break it to you, Josh, but if you really wanted to make the All-Star Game this season, you should have played at a high enough level where the coaches would not have been able to ignore your strong play.

Someone who cares too much about unimportant things like meaningless All-Star Games is not someone I would want as one of the stars on my team, and I also wouldn't want a player who doesn't perform at a high level in the playoffs.

Smith is a solid regular-season performer, but many of his stats decline when the bright lights of the postseason start to shine brightly.

Let's compare his regular-season and playoff averages from last season.

Josh Smith 2010-11	PTS	REB	AST	FG%	3PT%
Regular Season	16.5	8.5	3.3	.477	.333
Playoffs	15.1	8.5	2.9	.404	.125

As you can see, Smith was not the same player in the postseason, and his shooting percentages were atrociously bad in the playoffs compared to regular-season numbers.

There's no excuse to shoot much worse from the field and then drop your three-point percentage by more than half when you need to be playing your best.

Smith is not a big-game player and should not be rewarded with a lengthy, expensive extension from the Hawks. He hasn't delivered in four trips to the postseason and there's little reason to think a dramatic improvement would come this season.

Given the fact he's only 26, has tremendous athleticism and still could improve in several areas, Smith will have a lot of value on the trade market. His ability to block shots and dominate in transition will be appealing to several teams, especially older contenders like the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.

The Hawks could acquire young talent and/or draft picks in return for Smith to help the franchise remain competitive now while at the same time building toward a better future.

Smith is a good player, but he's overrated and the Hawks would be better off moving on and building a stronger squad by trading him.

Nicholas Goss is an NBA featured columnist at Bleacher Report; follow him on Twitter @NicholasGoss35.