Dreams Die, Hawks Keep Josh Smith

Mr. Shoals relayed his enthusiasm for Memphis' move to poach wunderkind Josh Smith from Atlanta on Friday. Sadly, the beautiful combination of Smith and Rudy Gay will not happen, as the Hawks have matched the offer. Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal- Constitution finds the Hawks organization trying to hide their elation.

"Tonight, the Hawks organization received an offer sheet from the Memphis Grizzlies for Josh Smith," Hawks general manager Rick Sund said in a statement released by the team. "We are happy to announce that we will match their offer sheet. Ownership, management and the team are happy to have Josh return as a member of the Hawks. We look forward to training camp in October, and we will continue to look at additional opportunities to improve our roster."

Now that Atlanta has managed to keep one of its two restricted free agents -- a type of asset it's almost impossible to actually lose -- the Hawks will look for "additional opportunities" to improve the roster? The roster has gotten worse, buddy. Josh Childress couldn't be replaced by two Maurice Evanses. Now, perhaps, Hawks fans can buy a Smith jersey or maybe some season tickets (yeah right). But they shouldn't be ready for a second straight playoff berth.

Memphis, meanwhile ... the Grizzlies did everyone a favor. Smith got a fair deal. Atlanta got to keep their star. And Grizz fans might have trouble bitching about that cheapskate owner for a while. That's more wins than Memphis has had in years.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.