Josh Smith To Houston Rockets A Good Deal For Both Sides
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According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the recently released Josh Smith has agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets. This result seemed inevitable all along, and made the most sense after the Detroit Pistons released the 29-year-old veteran on Monday.
Smith is not nearly the player he was just two years ago, but can still be highly-effective and productive when used properly – something that was not happening in Detroit. Stan Van Gundy and the Pistons had a logjam of big men with Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond, and Smith all seeing significant minutes together, forcing Smith to play a large portion of his time at small forward. Power forward is where he belongs, and “J-Smoove” is still a valuable player if you can convince him to stay in the post and never shoot outside of 15 feet, as he is shooting a pathetic 24% from behind the arc.
It’s clear that at this stage of his career, Smith is no longer a go-to-guy on offense and the veteran is far more effective as a role player. The disparity of talent between the Pistons and the Rockets is vast (to say the least), and Smith won’t be expected to be one of the team’s leading scorers night in and night out.
Joe Johnson was the scoring machine with the Atlanta Hawks when Smith was playing at his highest level and a return to a tertiary role should help the big man get his game back to where Houston wants it. Smith can focus on playing tough defense, rebounding, and passing, while allowing James Harden and Dwight Howard to shoulder the scoring load on offense.
The elite athleticism we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the high school product and 17th pick in the 2004 draft has faded since he signed the four-year, $54 million deal with the Pistons in 2013. However, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of the old Josh Smith once he suits up in Houston. Both Josh Smith and the Houston Rockets should benefit greatly from this change of scenery.
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