The issue with Dallas, Golden State, Clippers or even Blazers is Smith is a PF. There isn't playing time available for him there. Houston and Sacramento would be the best destinations.
I thought that he primarily played SF in ATL? Isn't a back-up slashing wing the one piece that would do the most to propel this team forward? Seems like a low-risk/high-reward situation if he clears waivers. Sign him as a FA to a small contract and if he's not fitting with the team by March then drop him.
Very easy to dismiss castaways, but guys like Diaw, Zbo, Monta, Stephen Jackson all found the right fits and the rhetoric about them changed. We all wanted the Hawks' Smoove. Lets not forget that. What if Detroit was just a bad fit? And he doesn't have character issues
His very early years yes, but look at his SF numbers now... http://www.82games.com/1415/14DET10.HTM He is horrid at SF
Why? You guys, Smith is one of the worst players in the league if not the worst. He's on track to become the first NBA player ever to shoot under 40% from the field and under 50% from the FT line while taking at least 12 field goal attempts.
Because he's playing on one of the worst teams in the league. He was really good in Atlanta. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Although his advanced numbers started declining 4 years ago http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithjo03.html?mobile=false
For one thing, him paired with Howard and Ariza could be one of the best and longest defensive frontcourts in the league, and the last thing we want is for Houston to become decent defensively. Also, there's a pretty decent chance that his poor performance has as much to do with being in Detroit as it does with him being not very good. He's only 29, so he's a little young to be experiencing a severe degradation of athleticism/skills. Even with his terrible shooting, his PER is 14.3. "Bad" as he may be, even in his worst year he's better than Tariq Black, so he's going to make a good Houston team better. If being a 3rd option on a better team gives him the opportunity to return to a form comparable to what he had in Atlanta just 2 years ago, then he could make Houston very dangerous.
for realz, dude has been coasting hard...got his money and quit giving a fuck. the point is though, that he will be playing for a contract next year, and will be highly motivated. im not above using his new found motivation for the blazers gain
I don't see where we'd be in on it. We should be in on Smith, but I don't feel that the feeling is reciprocated. Everyone can offer what we can offer (vet min deal), he doesn't really have ties to POR or to any of the team (which he does in other places), some other under-the-cap teams can offer more cash, some teams have been trying to trade for him for years (SAC?)... Interesting to see where he ends up, but I can't even give 1,000,000-to-1 odds that it'd be us. So I'm not even saying there's a chance.
Hard to say. The guy just turned 29, so it's not like he's old, but man he has sucked royally this season and last in Detroit. Is that a bad fit, or has he really declined that much? His shooting percentages are abysmal. Can you really blame such poor shooting on being a bad fit? It's not like he was ever a great shooter, but now he flat out sucks. And, the guy consistently takes some of the dumbest shots I've ever seen. I was watching the end of the DET- BRK game last night and knew there was no way DET was going to win with Smith on the floor. Here's just one example: 1:50.0 J. Smith misses 3-pt shot from 27 ft The guy, with a career .278 - 3FG%, decided to jack up a 27-footer with 8 seconds left on the shot clock. It wasn't a desperation heave to beat the shot clock. They had plenty of time and plenty of other options, but Smith asessed the situation and decided it was in his team's best interest that he hoist a 27-footer in that situation. The look on Stan Van Gundy's face was classic. I think they had to release Smith for health reasons - Van Gundy's health. Well, at least if he goes to Houston, they'll have two horrendous FT shooters to intentionally foul in hte 4th quarter of close games. BNM
That shot may have been the straw the broke the camel's back, and the very reason they cut him. As well, that may be why he took it. Mission accomplished.
