NBA Trade Rumors: Hawks Should Trade Josh Smith to Move Up in Draft

In what could be one of the best draft classes in years, the Atlanta Hawks should trade Josh Smith to move up in the 2012 NBA draft.

Sam Amico of FoxSports.com reported on Tuesday:

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The Hawks are said to be one team placing calls to improve their draft position. They currently own the No. 23 pick. One GM said the Hawks floated the names of both Josh Smith and Marvin Williams as potential trade chips.

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Trade rumors have long been circulating around Smith and at some point a trade is going to have to be made. There are plenty of teams out there that would like to add a two-way player like Smith, who has the ability to guard both forward positions.

The Hawks still have Smith, point guard Jeff Teague, small forward Joe Johnson and center Al Horford under contract for next year, but they could lose as many as eight players this offseason. Jason Collins, Erick Dampier, Willie Green, Kirk Hinrich, Tracy McGrady, Jannero Pargo, Vladimir Radmanovic and Jerry Stackhouse are all unrestricted free agents.

In that respect, the Hawks need to fill out the roster, and adding a dynamic young player would be a good way to go. They need talent across the board, so moving up the draft to pick the best player available isn't that bad of an idea. You also have Teague becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2013 if he isn't re-signed, so you have to think about that.

Looking at this year's draft class, there really isn't much not to like. You have some players who have the potential to be flops, as always (Andre Drummond, Perry Jones III, Royce White), but even those players draw more questions based on their character concerns, not their talent. Compared to last year's draft class overall, well, there is no comparison.

You have the ability to draft for need early on in the draft and still pick up an excellent prospect this year. There really shouldn't be too much "reaching," because most of the first-round prospects project to be impact players in the NBA anyway.

But if you draft for the best available player, you have an even better chance of picking up a future star. That's what the Hawks should do, and dangling Smith is a great way to land an immediate starter early in the draft.

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