Fresh 2013 NBA trade rumors have a Josh Smith trade coming from the Atlanta Hawks very soon. According to a report on Tuesday (Jan. 29) from Yahoo!, "expectations are growing that the Hawks will trade" their All-Star forward.
It isn't very surprising that the situation as come to this point, especially because Smith becomes a free agent at the end of the current season. If the Hawks don't trade their biggest asset, the risk is very real that he could sign as a free agent with another team. With franchise like the Dallas Mavericks entering the offseason with deep pockets and money to burn, Atlanta might want to play it safe.
Smith is putting together another productive season for the Hawks, even though his numbers are down just a shade. He is averaging 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game heading into Wednesday (Jan. 30). Those are very well-rounded numbers that could help out most teams in the league. Now it will be interesting to see which teams enter into the bidding war to acquire him for the postseason.
Maybe the reason these new 2013 NBA trade rumors are coming out is that Smith stated he is a max player earlier in the week. It's hard to argue with that when you compare his numbers to those of the other highly paid players in the league. A Josh Smith trade would need to take place before the Feb. 21 deadline, so expect the rumor mill to really start heating up now.
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