The 2014-15 NBA regular season has utilized December to host some of its surprising news. After the Boston Celtics traded franchise player Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks, the stage was set for another big decision.
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Detroit Pistons announced that starting forward Josh Smith has been waived.
The Pistons announce that they have waived Josh Smith. Wow.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) December 22, 2014
This comes as nothing short of a surprise.
Smith is a polarizing figure, but he was also due $13.5 million in 2015-16 and another $13.5 million in 2016-17. The most common approach would be to trade that type of player, but Van Gundy opted to take a different route.
With Smith out of the picture, the Pistons must now shift their attention to their top priority: re-signing Greg Monroe.
Financial Ramifications
The most common criticism of this contract is that the Detroit Pistons will be forced to pay $13.5 million per season to a player who isn’t on the roster. That’s also the most common misconception about this decision.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Pistons will see a cap hit of just $5.4 million per season.
The Pistons will pay $5.4M a year on stretch provision for Smith, creating added $8.1M in cap space next two summers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 22, 2014
Unfortunately, that cap hit will come over the next five seasons.
No cap hit is ideal, but this create significant flexibility—flexibility that should be directed to a specific player.
With Smith out of the picture, the Pistons have the cap room to make a more acceptable offer to power forward Greg Monroe. Monroe is a pending unrestricted free agent who passed on security by signing a one-year deal during restricted free agency.
The most common theory has been that Monroe is preparing to leave Detroit, but Smith’s departure changes things.
More applicably, it gives Monroe reason to stay in the Motor City.
Twin Towers
The most common misconception about today’s NBA is that teams must have a Stretch 4 as a starter to be successful. While that type of player is invaluable due to his floor-spacing ability, there are numerous examples of teams finding success with traditional sets.
The defending champion San Antonio Spurs won with Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter as the starters. Boris Diaw provided the floor-spacing as a versatile big man coming off of the bench.
The Memphis Grizzlies reached the 2013 Western Conference Finals and are a favorite in 2015 with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol as the starting power forward and center. Gasol can work the high-post, but he’s more of a traditionally skilled big man than a modern interpretation.
The Detroit Pistons can build their interior force with Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond.
Josh Smith was supposed to be the floor-spacer, but he shot just 24.3 percent from beyond the arc. That comes on 1.3 attempts per game.
Fortunately, Monroe and Drummond are still in place.
Monroe is a skilled big man who can create for himself, crash the boards, pass out of the post and finish well around the basket. He’s the Z-Bo, in this example, as a player who won’t blow you away athletically, but will take over games down low.
When he does need to flash his athletic ability, Monroe will step up.
Drummond’s raw offensively, but he’s a dominant interior presence who routinely takes over on the glass. He was No. 2 in rebounds per game in 2013-14 and is in that same position in 2014-15 with strong marks of 1.8 blocks and 0.9 steals to complement it.
Due to his lackluster offensive game, it’s vital for Detroit to have Monroe as a complementary force.
While this may not be the most exciting brand of basketball, it’s one with a proven track record. Monroe must expand his game to include a better mid-range jumper, but he’s already one of the better offensive big men in basketball.
If Detroit can lock him up, it’d have an interior tandem to fear—something that played a major factor in Detroit’s previous three title runs.
An Old New Vision
During his stint with the Orlando Magic, Stan Van Gundy was a shining example of how to properly balance new school offense with old school defense. Orlando routinely ranked in the Top 10 in scoring defense, but also employed a now popular approach.
Highlighted by 2012 Most Improved Player Ryan Anderson at power forward and three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard at center, the Magic embraced the value of a Stretch 4 in a pick-and-roll offense.
In Detroit, Van Gundy will be tasked with answering a very important question: will he maneuver to repeat the strategy? Or does he believe in a traditional set of interior forces?
If the answer is the latter, then Greg Monroe must be re-signed.
There’s no question that a shooting 4 has become commonplace in today’s NBA. Due to Van Gundy’s commitment to spacing the floor with his perimeter players, however, he may opt to utilize such a player in a backup role.
Keep in mind, Anderson started just 14 of 61 games played in 2010-11 during his first year of significant playing time in Orlando. The Magic still led the league in 3-point field goals made.
With Monroe working out of the pinch post and Drummond serving as the pick-and-roll finisher, the Pistons can experience offensive success. The likes of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cartier Martin, Jodie Meeks and Kyle Singler all presently serve as floor-spacers.
They’re also an example of Van Gundy’s vision.
The Magic ranked No. 1 in 3-point field goals made per game in all five of Van Gundy’s seasons as head coach. He’s clearly committed to bringing that successful strategy to Detroit.
It takes a low-post presence to properly balance that out. Monroe is that player.
Between Drummond’s dominant defense ways and Monroe’s strong offense, the Pistons can secure one of the best interiors in the league.
With Josh Smith out of the picture, it’s on Van Gundy to make good use of the now available financial flexibility. That means re-signing Monroe.