Josh Smith to Rockets: Latest Contract Details, Analysis and Reaction

From Dennis Rodman to Rasheed Wallace and on down the line, the NBA has a storied history of contenders rolling the dice on players with a bad rap to push them over the championship edge. The Houston Rockets will hope Josh Smith is the next to join that list.

The Rockets officially added Smith on Friday, per the team's website:

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Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed unrestricted free agent Josh Smith. The versatile big man was the youngest player in NBA to record 500 career blocks, was twice named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week (12/9/07 and 12/10/12) and was named to the 2010 All-NBA Defensive Second Team.

In order to maintain a roster of 15 players, the team has requested waivers on Tarik Black.

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The Rockets also showcased Smith's No. 5 jersey on Twitter:

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports first reported the news after Smith verbally agreed to join the Rockets on Wednesday prior to clearing waivers.

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the financial details:

ESPN.com provides comments from Smith, who spoke about Houston:

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It's an exciting time for me," Smith told FOX26 Sports. "Being able to be reunited with a good friend and one of the best teammates I ever played with, I think we can definitely do something special.

"Playing beside the best two-guard in the game right now in James Harden, what more can you ask for."

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"I think I can add to their toughness," Smith said. "I think I can add to their versatility at the four position, being able to pass the basketball and score the ball down low.

"Just add another basketball IQ, which will help when we make it to the postseason.

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The Rockets have been considered the favorites throughout the process. Smith and Dwight Howard are friends from their AAU days in Atlanta. Stein also reports the Rockets offered Smith another reason to sign:

The Pistons, who signed Smith to a four-year, $54 million deal in 2013, surprisingly waived him Monday amid an overhaul by head coach/president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy. Wojnarowski reported the team plans to use the "stretch provision" on the two years remaining on Smith's contract to lessen the salary-cap blowback.

Van Gundy explained the decision to part ways with Smith in a statement:

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We are shifting priorities to aggressively develop our younger players while also expanding the roles of other players in the current rotation to improve performance and build for our future. As we expand certain roles, others will be reduced. In fairness to Josh, being a highly versatile 10-year veteran in this league, we feel it's best to give him his freedom to move forward. We have full respect for Josh as a player and a person.

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Signed by former general manager Joe Dumars, Smith's tenure in Detroit was a failure from the start. An awkward roster fit on a team that already boasted non-spacer bigs in Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe, the Pistons' need for Smith to play small forward exposed his worst tendencies. He chucked up bad threes, moped around the perimeter and saw his defense noticeably slip.

While Van Gundy was able to move Smith away from the three-point line this season, the results haven't been much better. Smith was averaging 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game at the time of his release, hitting a career-low 39.1 percent of his shots. The Pistons were outscored by 11.6 points per 100 possessions with Smith on the floor this season and were actually outscoring their opponents with him on the bench, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Individual on/off splits are noisy but in this case are instructive of how poorly Smith fit in with his teammates. This was a bad, confusing signing from the outset, and the situation only got more tenuous when Van Gundy took the job and began his deconstruction.

That said, it's possible Houston is getting a steal of a player going through his first real wake-up call. Smith is one of five non-guards in the league averaging at least 4.5 assists per game. He is a gifted passer from the elbows and in the post, and he can be a dynamic force near the basket when he's engaged. He shot 58.6 percent in the restricted area this season before being released, a number below his career rate but still solid.

Defensively, Smith's reputation has been built largely on his spectacular athleticism. Whether by age or effort, his work on that side of the ball has slipped in Detroit, and it'll be interesting to see if he can recapture his versatility in Houston.

The risk is nevertheless one worth taking. The Rockets are paying a player who commanded $13.5 million per season barely over a year ago pittance in comparison, and they're acquiring a highly skilled two-way player for nothing of value. Personality conflicts may arise, but this is a situation almost unprecedented in league history.

Signing Smith is a no-brainer.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.