Josh Smith signs with Detroit Pistons at $56 million/4 years

[benji]

Josh Smith has agreed to a four-year, $56 million deal with the Detroit Pistons, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Pistons pursued Smith the hardest, with agents Brian Dyke and Wallace Prather reaching an agreement with Detroit general manager Joe Dumars on Saturday morning, sources said.

[Haxz0rz1337]

I thought he will join Rockets..

[NovU]

Might be a good thing he didn't. And Andre Drummond now can watch and learn from Josh how things are done at superstar level.

[Sauru]

Andre Drummond now can watch and learn from Josh how things are NOT done at superstar level.

fixed

[_Steve_]

Andre Drummond now can watch and learn from Josh how things are NOT done at superstar level.

fixed

I 2nd that.

[benji]

And Josh Smith now can watch and learn from Andre how things are done at superstar level.

More correctly fixed.

[shadowgrin]

RIP Detroit Basketball.

[Andrew]

Smith is probably a little underappreciated at times, it's not as though he's completely lacking in talent, but it doesn't seem like one of Joe D's best moves. If he can cut out the ill-advised threes and actually make his free throws, it wouldn't be all doom and gloom, but that's probably wishful thinking.

[Axel The Great]

Thank god. Smith would have been an abomination in Houston's offense, becoming three-point shooting happy and bringing down the offense. It was rather disappointing to hear a few friends of mine saying they wanted the Rockets to sign him.

RIP Detroit Basketball.

Not if Andre Drummond has anything to say about that.

[Sauru]

Smith is probably a little underappreciated at times, it's not as though he's completely lacking in talent

this is the problem though. he has talent, lots of it, but is too stupid to know how to utilize it. this is why antoine walker always pissed me off so much. i put them in the same boat

[_Steve_]

When I've read that Smith is supposed to play #3 most of the time, I thought of him being a Charles Smith kind of SF. Using a PF at SF worked well for the Knicks those days. I'm still not sold to the idea since the game is much more about shooting 3pointers as it was then. So if the Pistons won't use any of their bigs as a trade chip this wasn't the best move...

[Brave Sir Rubin]

You have to admit that having Smith, Andre, and Monroe on the court at the same time is a defensive nightmare. Gonna bring back the Bad Boys.

[_Steve_]

Defensive nightmare? What about perimeter defense? Smith is a good interior defender, but has his problems when defending against athletic SFs.

[NovU]

Smith, Andre, Monroe sounds terrible for spacing. Who's gonna guard them seriously when none of them can't hit Js. I guess they can pound the glass though.

Simple solution, trade Andre for Bargnani. Everybody happy that way.

[hova-]

Monroe can hit Js. I think it will be rather be a problem that they could not bring back Calderon. He could have gon for alley oops with Smoove and make life easier for Smith and Drummond, who clearly rely on a good passer on offense. Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey won't help in that regard.

[_Steve_]

I think hova- is right about Stuckey and Knight. I'm not so fond of Calderon.
Vasquez would have been a good addition as #1...

[Jackal]

I hope Josh Smith turns out to be awesome and beasts it up in Detroit. Isn't Monroe a RFA next year? Maybe he becomes expendable with Smith's play.

[Andrew]

this is the problem though. he has talent, lots of it, but is too stupid to know how to utilize it. this is why antoine walker always pissed me off so much. i put them in the same boat

Absolutely. They're the type of players that people like to call "terrible" or "overrated", to the point where they are arguably a little underrated and underappreciated. However, their decision making, basketball IQ and inability to utilise their talents most effectively ultimately holds them back from being all that they could be, which is where the frustration and well-deserved criticism comes in. Whether you love or hate what they're doing changes from play to play, as they either do what they do best or fall victim to their worst habits.

Allen Iverson is another player I'd place in that category, though he's better than most and enjoyed more success than players like 'Toine and Smith.

[hova-]

This is maybe were coaches could have an impact. Don't know about Cheeks, but imagine a guy like Pop coaching Smith. Usually brings the best out of players.

[Leftos]

I don't know what to make of this. Like others have said, Smith is a very talented guy, but his tendencies are out of whack. And with the lack of any actual PG that can initialize plays (yes, I'm one of those that wanted to keep Calderon), I don't know if the team's going to be much better.

There were more options for the Pistons in next year's off-season, but Dumars had to make a move. 28th in attendance, young guys that have been part of a losing team and may be disheartened... He needed to get excitement back in Detroit, and get the team to the high-30s in wins. And Smith might just be enough to do that, but will it ever prove to be more than that?

Pistons still have $8M in cap space after the Smith deal, but I have no idea if there's anyone worth grabbing to fill the need for a 1. With the drafting of KCP as a 2 and signing of Josh Smith for the 3, I would have to imagine Dumars would be too proud of his drafts not to allow Knight and Stuckey to rotate at the 1. And I don't like that at all. They're both best as SGs, and forcing them to play PG isn't going to make an honest PG out of them. Not from what I've seen so far.

And Monroe isn't expendable, yet. Granted, this season was disappointing after all the upcoming All-Star expectations I had set for him after his development before this year, but I can give the guy a break. The whole team was pretty terrible, Frank wasn't doing a proper job coaching it either, and we've seen how much talent he has. Teams knew to collapse on Monroe this year because there was pretty much nobody else that could make an impact consistently. With Smith taking some of the spotlight and with KCP doing some of his consistent jump-shooting, maybe the floor will open up for Monroe and Drummond to do their thing, and hopefully Cheeks grows them as a pair.

If this season goes badly for Monroe again, then we can talk about trading. But I'm keeping my hopes up. He has a wide array of talents. Here's hoping that Smith doesn't utilize Monroe's passing out of the post for more 3PAs for him. Just pass it to Drummond on the key and let him dunk. If Smith can realize what he's actually good at and utilize it, he could be another step towards rebuilding. I'm just afraid that he's not what's going to solve the Pistons' problems. We're not quite there yet.

[Jackal]

If I was a Pistons fan I'd be kind of confused too. Monroe & Drummond could be a force to reckoned with in the post, I would really hope adding Smith doesn't affect that development.

But since I'm not a Pistons fan...I say let Monroe sign an offer elsewherelakers next year when Detroit thinks Drummond + Smith is enough.

Just don't end up flipping one of them to Boston for Rondo. Screw Boston.

[Leftos]

Yeeeeh... To be honest, I see Monroe being traded off/signing elsewhere as well after this year if he doesn't go back to increasing his numbers and being that potential All-Star we were seeing in him.

Still, it would piss me off to see our most consistent guy through these troubling years leave. Let's see how Smith turns out after all.

[Sauru]

If I was a Pistons fan I'd be kind of confused too. Monroe & Drummond could be a force to reckoned with in the post, I would really hope adding Smith doesn't affect that development.

But since I'm not a Pistons fan...I say let Monroe sign an offer elsewherelakers next year when Detroit thinks Drummond + Smith is enough.

Just don't end up flipping one of them to Boston for Rondo. Screw Boston.

how dare you sir?

[Jackal]

What? I'm trying to get a Canadian on to your team and this is the treatment I get? Really?

[SoF'nAwesome]

Why would he go there with the other offers in hand?