Celtics say they have had no talks about Josh Smith trade

We told you about the rumors the Atlanta Hawks are going to be shopping Josh Smith around, and that Smith is good with that. In fact, like everyone, Smith has a list of teams he’d like to play for. One was the Boston Celtics.

But there have been no such talks with the Celtics, according to A. Sherrod Blakely at CSN New England.

A league source told CSNNE.com on Monday night that the Celtics have had “no discussions whatsoever” with the Atlanta Hawks about acquiring Smith. The same source added that there were no plans to open up such dialogue any time in the near future. “You can never say never,” the source said, “but there’s nothing going on there.”

Hard to see Atlanta wanting to deal one of their stars to a team they may well see in the playoffs. It’s also hard to see how a deal with Boston gets done in terms of players. Boston doesn’t have a lot of trade chips, but they could theoretically part with Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett. Not likely, especially in KG’s case. And after last season, are the Celtics going to trade part of their core away again midseason? For Josh Smith? He brings shot blocking and some athleticism, but he also brings a jump shot he keeps taking and missing.