By John Manasso
FOXSportsSouth.com
November 4, 2010
Inevitably, the Hawks re-signing of Al Horford stoked trade rumors almost as soon as it happened.
Literally hours after the Hawks announced the extension, there were reports that several NBA general managers believe the Hawks won't be able to keep Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford on their payroll beyond this year. Together, the Hawks would owe that foursome $51 million.
For the current season the luxury tax is a threshold which the Hawks would seemingly not want to cross. Adding Horford's reported salary increase would bring the Hawks over the luxury tax by about $6.5 million. (Of course, the NBA's collective bargaining agreement expires after this season and the entire structure of the league's payroll system, not to mention luxury tax thresholds, could entirely be new.)
Somehow, the speculation ended up being that Josh Smith would be the player on the block.
Maybe it's Smith
