Suns trade rumors: Hawks F Josh Smith to Phoenix not going away

The Phoenix Suns have been one of the more aggressive teams out there with the Feb. 21 NBA trade deadline quickly approaching. The Suns are believed to be chasing Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks, per Ken Berger of CBS Sports.com.

Rival executives continue to believe that the Suns have been aggressive in their pursuit of Smith and other trades. But even with a potential lottery pick from the Lakers in the Steve Nash deal, execs are skeptical that Phoenix has enough attractive young players to complete the deal.

And the reports of Smith to the Suns have been echoed by Marc Stein of ESPN:

Another team pinpointed the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks as the strongest contenders to win the Smith sweepstakes. The big worry for both of those teams, though, is whether they could really risk trading for Smith when convincing him to re-sign for the long term is likely to be a serious challenge in either city. Especially with Smith said to be angling for a max deal ... and with nobody confusing the Suns or the Bucks with Mikhail Prokhorov's Nets.

Smith is easily the most sought-after player on the market right now and is averaging 17.4 points and 8.6 rebounds on the season. Smith's point and rebound totals are above his career numbers of 15.2 points and 8 boards. The athletic forward can play multiple positions and would be an ideal fit next to athletic point guard Goran Dragic.

Echoing the statement above from Stein, it would be a major challenge for the Suns to convince Smith to stay in Phoenix -- if they were even able to pull off a deal for him. The Suns do have some nice pieces, but Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat are more attractive to contending teams and the young assets possessed by the Suns might not be enough to make the Hawks bite.

For more on the Suns visit: Bright Side of the Sun.