Another quiet leader

There’s not much to say about the Joe Smith signing.  Given the players the Bulls were looking at Smith was far and away the best option.  Chris Mihm didn’t play all of last year and was never all that impressive.  Mikki Moore’s decent season last year probably won’t be repeated.  He’ll be 32 when the season starts so you know he’s not going to get better than he is now. 

         
Joe Smith should follow in Antonio and PJ’s footsteps.  All he has to do
now is become a part of the NBA Player’s Association leadership. Davis
has been the Executive Committee President in recent years and Brown
has been a Vice President.

Smith, who will also be 32 when the season starts, has had a much more consistent career than Moore.  Smith has also performed at higher levels in his career than Mihm ever did while healthy.  All the reports say he’ll bring a steady veteran leadership to a locker room filled with youth.  He won’t bring much back-to-the-basket scoring, but who will?  Smith should fill the role that P.J. Brown filled last season and that Antonio Davis did prior to P.J.  Hit jumpers from the elbow, rebound and defend decently, provide quiet yet strong team leadership, maybe take Noah under his wing (because Big Ben isn’t really the mentoring type).

$10 million is kind of a lot for a player of Smith’s current quality, however because it’s only a two year contract it won’t cripple the team’s financial flexibility in any significant way.  Paxson, as we’ve come to expect, made another smart yet conservative move picking up Joe Smith. 

One thing we’d like to know is why the Bulls never even looked at Jamaal Magloire?  He’s a couple of years younger and brings more or less the same qualities to the table that Smith does.  In the end Smith still may have been the smarter pick, but Magloire definitely deserved a look over Mihm and Moore. 

~ by 312chill on July 17, 2007.