While other teams looked at Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith as sort of a consolation prize should they fail to land the top prize in free agency, center Dwight Howard, the Detroit Pistons made it clear to Smith that he was their guy.
(NBA.com photo)
The Pistons, who met with Smith at the first available opportunity when free agency opened on July 1, agreed to terms with J-Smoove on a four-year, $56 million contract on Saturday morning, according to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
Smith immediately brings athleticism to the Pistons’ frontcourt and the assumption is that he will play small forward in Detroit, teaming with Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe for a potentially dynamic frontcourt.
But Smith is not without his warts. For all his athleticism and defensive ability, Smith sometimes falls in love with his jump shot. Last year, Smith hoisted a career-high 201 3-pointers for the Hawks while making just 30.3 percent of them. He also struggled at the free-throw line in 2012-13, making a career low 51.7 percent of his 321 attempts.
But he can fill a stat sheet like few others in the game. Smith averaged 17.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.8 blocked shots in 76 games for Atlanta last season and brings averages of 15.3 points, eight rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocks in his nine-year career to the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Here’s a mix of Smith’s 2012-13 season:
He led the NBA in defensive win shares in 2011-12 with 4.9 and has been in the top 10 in blocked shots six times in his career, landing on the All-Defensive second team in 2009-10.
The good news for the Pistons is that Smith is a terrific finisher around the rim. He hit 77.6 percent of his shots at the rim last season. The bad news is that once he backs away from the rim, he gets inconsistent in a hurry. Smith made just 39.4 percent of his shots from three to nine feet out, a dismal 24 percent from 10 to 15 feet and 33 percent from 16 to 23 feet.
Smith’s addition, however, leaves the Pistons with work still to do this offseason. Signing Smith doesn’t address the team’s need to improve its perimeter shooting. The team ranked near the bottom of the league in 3-point shooting and the Pistons need someone to provide some spacing, particularly if Drummond, Monroe and Smith are all going to be trying to operate at the same end of the floor.
Point guard is also a glaring need. Brandon Knight has struggled at times and Rodney Stuckey—and his expiring contract—is being shopped. Both of them are combo guards, as well, rather than true point guards.
The lone true point guard from 2012-13, Jose Calderon, agreed to a four-year, $29 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks.