OT: Pistons trading Smith to Sactown?

Submitted by dayooper63 on

Just talks, but wow, that would be huge.

 

Link

MGoChippewa

June 24th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^

available, looks like we'd just take Derrick Williams and one of their Jasons with a bad contract (Terry or Thompson).  Honestly I think putting Williams, who's only 23, in a new system may help him become a contributor.  Plus, Smith has value to the Kings where he can play PF.  Not a total lost cause like Gordon was when he got dealt to Charlotte. 

UMaD

June 24th, 2014 at 5:56 PM ^

They'd be more wise to deal Monroe in a sign-and-trade for a package of assets, then let Smith rehabilitate his value playing PF beside Drummond o start the season.

Dumping Smith is a fine move the short-term, but in the big picture the Pistons would be selling when his value is at an all-time low.  Doing it to clear space for a Greg Monroe, who is about to sign an enormous free agent contract, is poor asset management. There are so many teams with free agent dollars to spend that Monroe will doubtlessly get a huge offer.  The Pistons will feel forced to match it, and at that moment Monroe turns into another Josh Smith, a year later. Overpaid talent with limitations to his game. Having another bloated contract (Thompson) would only make the problem worse and extend it further ahead.

Clearly, Smith CAN play much much better than he did last year.  This is a coaching/management failure as much, if not moreso, than an individual player failure.  The Pistons would be wise to wait it out, let Smith get back on track this season under SVG.  Last year, as SVG said, he played to his weaknesses as a SF besides two interior-oriented bigs. The Pistons can get him back to doing the things he's good at, build his value, then deal him to a playoff team hungry to add an impact talent closer to the trade deadline. Smith's current status reminds me of Rasheed Wallace's in 2003.

Besides Monroe's fleeting value, the Pistons have 1 big asset (Drummond) and two small ones (KCP and Singler).  They need to add to what they have. Shedding salary to try to get it through free agency is a dubious way to acheive it, repeating past mistakes (Billups/Iverson deal led to Gordon which led to losing a pick to sign Smith which leads to taking on Thompson for the sake of overpaying Monroe).  Just stop it already and admit you have to rebuild a bit.

MGoChippewa

June 24th, 2014 at 8:19 PM ^

the talks are dead for now:

 

Tater

June 25th, 2014 at 2:42 AM ^

I hope a trade involving Smith isn't "dead."  Moving his contract would almost make up for not havning a first round pick this year.

bronxblue

June 25th, 2014 at 11:23 AM ^

Funny thing is, Smith kinda makes sense for the Kings.  They need his defense and athleticism, and they are building an exciting team there that could make a run at the playoffs next year.  And the Pistons probably need to go in a different direction if they plan on keeping Monroe, so some cap relief plus being able to get a true SF would be huge.