Celtics apparently not interested in Josh Smith

Yesterday, the Celtics world was abuzz about word that Hawks power forward Josh Smith would prefer to come to Boston if and when Atlanta decided to trade him this offseason.

Leave it to the local media to kill any leftover buzz that was remaining from that.

A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com is reporting that the Celtics haven't had any discussions with the Hawks regarding Smith and that we shouldn't expect any of those talks to happen anytime soon.

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 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."

Well, okay then. I guess that kills that. As exciting as it would have been to have Smith team up with Rajon Rondo and see them on SportsCenter's Top Plays every morning, I'm still not sure it would have been worth losing either Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett. As I said yesterday, they both possess things that the Celtics would sorely miss once the season got going. They'd miss Ray's ability to spot up, hit the open three-pointer and constantly be an offensive threat. They'd also miss KG's defensive leadership as well as his emotional fire and passion.

The real kicker of Blakely's report was this gem that he added later.  

As for the Celtics, adding Smith would provide a major boost in terms of athleticism and shot-blocking. However, adding him in many ways would be replicating the skillset of Jeff Green, who the Celtics acquired at the Feb. 24 trading deadline from Oklahoma City.

I don't know if this is more of an insult to Josh Smith or Jeff Green. Smith is more of the high-flying, shot-blocking player. I think his athleticism blows Green's out of the water. On the other hand, Green can actually shoot a consistent mid-range jumper.

Regardless, if adding Smith would be nothing more than adding another Jeff Green to the team, count your blessings that this deal was nothing more than a rumor.