NBA Notes: A Josh Smith/Dwight Howard Reunion?

On a quiet Monday morning, the NBA had their holiday hijacked, and by the Detroit Pistons, no less.

The Pistons trumped everyone not named Santa Claus. They yanked the Christmas blanket away from the NBA’s tight fists.

Forget Lebron in South Beach. Or, Pau Gasol facing his old team, perhaps without Kobe Bryant. Or, the Knicks in free-fall. Or, the Warriors fast paced scoring feast.

Dec 6, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Josh Smith (6) during overtime against the Philadelphia 76ers at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Philadelphia 76ers won 108-101 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

That sorrowful team in Michigan, with the league’s worst attendance, stunned every front office and the league itself by releasing power forward Josh Smith. In a sense, no one is surprised; Smith is a headache of gargantuan proportions. But he is still owed $26 million dollars, and because of that, everyone is surprised. It was a bold, bold thing to do, very Stan Van Gundy-esque.

If the Pistons were mentored by Donald Sterling, they wouldn’t pay Josh Smith a dime. They would make him sue them to get his money. But the Pistons won’t do that. Chances are it is pretty cut and dried. Smith will get his money for two more years. In 48 hours, once he clears waivers, he will sign with a contending team in the Western Conference, maybe Dallas but more likely the Houston Rockets who are desperate for power forward help and an athletic player to line up next to Dwight Howard.

Both Josh Smith and Dwight Howard, who are childhood friends from Atlanta, can spend hours talking about how misunderstood both of them are. Both came into the NBA out of high school and had doubts raised about their capacity to mature. Both, are incredible athletes.

The distinction- and it is not subtle- is that Dwight Howard has dominated his position ever since he has been in the league. He is a top 5 NBA center. Josh Smith, on the other hand, has lagged far behind his contemporaries. He shoots three point shots when he should be posting up. He can be lazy and disinterested and his reputation as a difficult player to trust or coach has followed him everywhere.

This year, Josh Smith is ranked as the 78^th best player in the NBA, according to hoopsstats.com. He is sandwiched between Omer Asik at #77 and Danny Green at #79. Smith is shooting 39% (and he doesn’t have a 19 year career to use as his excuse). He turned 29 two weeks ago. He averages 13 points and 7 rebounds.

But despite the embarrassment of a team saying: we want to pay you to stay away– don’t feel sorry for Josh Smith. He’ll get his $26 million from the Pistons and then he will tack on more from whomever signs him. Most teams only have the veteran’s minimum but Houston has a little bit more to offer. Josh Smith will come out on top after having escaped Van Gundy hell. He and Howard can bond over that too.

But the NBA? Well, that’s another story.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement was supposed to prevent this very thing. Large unmovable contracts, mistakes by the front office, were seen as one of those punishments you just have to endure, falling into the category: you did this to yourself, now live with it. The Pistons, in one bold move, changed the calculus. They’ll pay Smith and they’ll take the salary cap hit and they’ll relax because he is gone. Did they just establish a precedent?

Are billionaire owners willing to submit themselves to financial purgatory if it means unwrapping the hands from around their neck of a self- absorbed ingrate?

Can you successfully run a team when a single player has the power to force his way out, still get paid and end up with a championship? In this particular case, hasn’t the Collective Bargaining Agreement been subverted by a high school player who figured out the game, played it flawlessly and now can do whatever he wants?

As for the Pistons, this move may in fact help them keep Greg Monroe who is an unrestricted free agent in 2015. Monroe has played this year as if he is on a death watch at the local prison. No part of his game is inspired. Was Josh Smith the problem? Even if he wasn’t, you can believe Smith will be the scapegoat. There are only a handful of NBA players, that when things go wrong, they disproportionately take all the blame.

Josh Smith is at the top of that list. So, if you want, talk bad about him now. He may be playing in June. He may have the last laugh, after all.

More from Lake Show Life

Home/Lakers News