NBA Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets Should Avoid Playing Josh Smith Next to Dwight Howard

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By @DSchultz89

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The Houston Rockets agreed to a contract on Friday with free-agent forward Josh Smith, who was surprisingly released by the Detroit Pistons earlier this week.

The Rockets emerged as the favorite in the race for Smith because of his friendship with Dwight Howard, and the fact that the two played AAU basketball together in Atlanta when they were kids.

On paper, this seems to be a good move for both parties, and it will be interesting to see how Smith fits in with his new Rockets teammates.

It will not be surprising at all if the Rockets decide to start Smith at power forward next to Howard in hopes of creating a dynamite defensive duo in the post. While initially this appears to make a lot of sense, I believe the Rockets are better off bringing Smith off the bench for right now.

It is no secret that a lot of NBA teams have elected to go for more small-ball lineups in favor of spacing the floor, so as to benefit their shooters and slashers. Smith, while definitely a talented defensive player, is severely lacking in the shooting department. He has a reputation of forcing up a lot of bad shots, usually in the form of long two-pointers that defenses are more than happy to give up.

The Rockets should also look to last year as an example of why they should only use a lineup consisting of Smith and Howard sparingly.

Last year, they attempted a couple of times to start Omer Asik next to Howard in hopes of creating that same dominant defensive combination down low. However, it did not work well for them primarily because neither Asik nor Howard possess a jump shot whatsoever, and were also often too slow to cover big men who could knock down mid-range or perimeter shots. Because of this, as well as Asik’s wish to be traded, the Rockets eventually shipped him over to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Granted, Smith is more of an athlete than Asik, and has the ability to guard perimeter players better, but in terms of offense, Smith would certainly limit the Rockets’ effective spacing methods.

James Harden has had a very efficient season so far driving to the rim due to how the Rockets spread the floor. It is simply not smart to have two guys like Howard and Smith on the block as a player like Harden attempts a drive to the basket, because this will clog the lane. And, if Howard and Smith clear out of the lane to provide Harden with more space, defenses will be instructed to stay close to the lane and live with a mid-range jump shot from either Howard or Smith.

It is just not smart basketball to have these guys on the court at the same time for long stretches of time. Donatas Motiejunas has played very well at the power forward position given he has the ability to be a stretch four and shoot the ball from the mid-range area when he is on the court with Howard. It is smart to leave him as the starter for now given his skills. Plus, the Rockets are 20-7 right now, and have no reason whatsoever to tinker with their starting lineup at this point.

Instead, with Smith coming off of the bench with the newly acquired Corey Brewer, veteran shooter Jason Terry, lightning quick Isaiah Canaan and the versatile Kostas Papanikolaou, the Rockets could have one of the league’s best benches. They might be a little undersized, but given the trends of smaller lineups in the league, and the fact that benches do not play nearly as much as starting units do, they should be just fine.

This is not to make Smith sound like a bad player either. By all accounts, this is a good pickup and putting him next to Howard in last-second defensive sets when the game is on the line might make a lot of sense. But given their skill-sets, I believe it makes the most sense for the Rockets to keep spacing the floor as they have done so far.

Howard and Harden have flourished so far because of this, and it would be unwise to make any adjustments to this gameplan which has clearly worked in their favor.

Dan Schultz is an NBA sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.

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