Detroit Pistons' Decision to Waive Josh Smith Was Incredibly Painful and Correct
It wasn't easy for the Detroit Pistons to get to a point where they felt waiving Josh Smith was the best course of action, but it happened nonetheless.
The physically talented forward has been a mercurial player for years, and his inability to listen to coaching and take the most beneficial shots for his team ultimately ended up dooming him.
At the time of his release, which was first reported by ESPN.com's Marc Stein, Smith was averaging 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. However, he was shooting only 39.1 percent from the field and, per Basketball-Reference.com, had a player-efficiency rating of just 14.3.
According to SlamOnline.com's Jake Fischer, the Pistons actively tried to trade Smith before letting him go:
And, as revealed by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Pistons had a chance to trade him to the Sacramento Kings for Carl Landry and Jason Thompson this summer but ultimately declined to pull the trigger:
Now the franchise is left taking a different route—the stretch provision. We'll allow Larry Coon, the writer of the terrific CBA FAQ, to explain what that means:
"If the player is waived from September 1 to June 30, then the current season is paid per the normal payment schedule, and any remaining years are stretched over twice the number of years remaining plus one as described above. For example, if the player is waived on December 1 with two seasons remaining on his contract at $10.2 million and $10.5 million, respectively, then the current season (at $10.2 million) is paid normally, and the final season (at $10.5 million) is stretched over three years (one season times two, plus one) and paid in even amounts of $3.5 million per year.
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Such a move is necessary not because Smith is a washed-up talent for whom teams didn't want to trade, but because his upside simply wasn't worth his gaudy contract. That was the primary hurdle that couldn't be overcome by any of the league's other 29 teams, as the risk of him remaining uncoachable and detrimental to the on-court efforts just wasn't worth the exorbitant albatross of a price tag.
"The Pistons will pay $5.4M a year on stretch provision for Smith, creating added $8.1M in cap space next two summers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 22, 2014"
Instead of paying out the remaining money the forward is owed, Stan Van Gundy and the rest of Detroit's front office will use that stretch provision to pay him $5.4 million per year and create plenty of cap space they wouldn't have otherwise enjoyed over the next two seasons.
Sure, Smith's deal is on the books for three extra seasons now, but when you factor in the expected rise of the cap that's coming in the wake of the new television pact, whether it's a massive jump or a more smoothed-out increase, the Pistons will actually have some spending power either way.
That's the primary motivation here.
The Pistons are essentially admitting they made a mistake in signing Smith to such a gaudy contract, but at least they're coming to terms with that in beneficial fashion. After all, this opens up plenty of opportunities for a team that is now firmly in a rebuilding process.
First come the finances.
With that additional flexibility on the ledgers, Van Gundy can go after players who are better fits for his system. It's important to remember that this is his first season in charge, and the current Dumpster fire in Motor City can't be blamed on him. He could only make limited moves, inherited a strange, ill-fitting roster and played out the opening quarter of the season without his primary acquisition (Jodie Meeks).
Now, Van Gundy can pursue bigger talents with that extra cap space. He can shape the Pistons in the image he thinks will work best, and we can get a more accurate picture of how talented he is in this front-office role.
Secondly, the team is actually going to move into more of a rebuilding mode right now, competing for better lottery odds while handing plenty of minutes to younger players without any fear of being unable to compete. Van Gundy himself explained this in the official release after the news of the move broke:
"Our team has not performed the way we had expected throughout the first third of the season and adjustments need to be made in terms of our focus and direction. 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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That means more time and opportunity for players like Jonas Jerebko and Tony Mitchell, as well as out-of-position chances for guys such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Singler. Plus, we can't forget about the draft-day talents that the Pistons will likely acquire going forward.
Finally, this news affects Greg Monroe, who signed a qualifying offer with the team during the offseason and has never seemed as though he'll return once he plays out his one-year obligation to Motor City.
"Greg Monroe's camp reportedly wanted Smith traded, but that was before Monroe signed the qualifying offer and appeared headed out of town as an unrestricted free agent next summer. Could this be a last-ditch grand gesture to persuade Monroe to stay?" Dan Feldman asks for NBC Sports.
"It seems desperate, but the 5-23 Pistons probably are."
Even if Monroe leaves this offseason, as has been the widespread assumption for quite some time, this move won't backfire.
Smith wasn't adding anything positive to the Pistons, as he just didn't fit next to the crowded frontcourt and on a team that didn't space the court. In fact, the team has outscored opponents by 0.7 points per 100 possessions when he sits, per Basketball-Reference.com. When he plays, the Pistons are the ones being outscored, and it comes at the rate of 11.6 points per 100 possessions.
At the moment, the Pistons are still committed to him financially, but the number is stretched out to become much more palatable, especially when the cap jumps and his remaining salary doesn't. That money can be used to sign new, better players, and incumbents can fill the current void to prove they belong.
Painful as it may be that this route was the best one for Detroit, it's still the correct, albeit unorthodox, decision.
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