<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span class="template"><span class="body"> Hawks forwards Josh Childress and Josh Smith have been linked nearly every step of their NBA careers.</p> They can add Wednesday night's 11:59 p.m. NBA deadline for contract extensions to be signed to the list, as both players will wake up Thursday morning without the security of having new deals.</p> The Hawks didn't come close to an agreement with either player, making both restricted free agents at the end of this season. The Hawks will retain the all-important right to match any offers made to them by other teams.</p> But after three tumultuous years as pillars in the Hawks' rebuilding plan, both had hoped extensions would have come before the deadline.</p> "You always want to have that type of business taken care of," Smith said. "But you can't let it stop you from taking care of the business at hand. And right now Dallas [in Friday night's season opener at Philips Arena [is the only business we have on our minds. We're about winning games and making playoff this year, that's it."</p> Childress, the No. 6 pick in the 2004 draft, and Smith, No. 17, were the first major pieces acquired in the Hawks' tear down and rebuild project. They are the only holdovers from that process, the only two players still on the roster from opening night of the 2004-05 season.</div></p> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</p> </span></span></p>
