Josh Smith could go from getting released by a cellar-dwelling team to being a cog for a championship-contending one. Such is the strange business of team sports. According to a report, the Houston Rockets are favorites to land the talented but ineffective lefty in wake of his abrupt dismissal by the Detroit Pistons.
The news is courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. The Rockets have long desired adding Smith and believe they have the inside track on signing him once he clears waivers, sources say:
The Houston Rockets are emerging as the strongest suitor to sign forward Josh Smith, league sources told Yahoo Sports…
Houston has aggressively pursued Smith for the past two years, failing in the summer of 2013 to agree to a sign-and-trade agreement with Atlanta to acquire him. Before ultimately signing a four-year $56 million deal with Detroit, Smith had long had interest in finding a way to join the Rockets, sources said.
Houston briefly discussed trade possibilities with Detroit this season, but it was impossible for the Rockets to have absorbed his salary without giving up Dwight Howard or James Harden, sources said.
Even beyond close friend Dwight Howard, strong belief among Houston's players that they'll convince Josh Smith to sign with Rockets.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 23, 2014
Wojnarowiski updated Houston’s stance with Smith early this morning:
Houston has strengthened its position as the frontrunner to sign Josh Smith, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 23, 2014
Smith and Howard were teammates on the AAU powerhouse Atlanta Celtics in the mid-2000s, and remained friends upon entering the league together in 2004. That fact coupled with the belief of other Rockets that Smith is most likely bound for Houston lends extra credence to this latest report.
Also of crucial note is that the Rockets can fit Smith into its biannual exception, a salary worth just over $2 million. Other suitors for the lefty – the Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat, for example – are capped-out, and can only thus offer him a deal worth the veteran’s minimum of $1.4 million.
Filling roster holes is never a bad thing, and Houston could have a major one in the frontcourt. Starting power forward Terrence Jones has been sidelined since early November with a nerve issue in his right leg, and there’s still no timeline for his return. And though Donatas Motiejunas has been extremely impressive during Jones’ absence, the Rockets are thin in terms of legitimate frontcourt rotation players behind he and Howard.
Should Jones’ injury linger, Smith might find himself with a major role in Houston – and might still even when the Kentucky product returns. His multifaceted game is well-suited to the team’s talents on offense, and Houston could certainly use his natural ability to make more team-wide strides on the other end of the floor. If Smith takes good shots and commits defensively, it wouldn’t shock if he made a real difference for the Rockets come spring.
But as Smith time in Detroit made abundantly clear, those ifs comes with a bullet.
What do you think?
Follow Jack on Twitter at @ArmstrongWinter.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
