Josh Smith

Stan Van Gundy On Josh Smith Decision

December 22nd, 2014 at 9:39pm CST by Alex Lee

This morning’s news that the Pistons waived Josh Smith certainly qualifies as one of the more interesting and shocking NBA personnel developments in recent memory. It’s also no surprise that teams around the league are preparing their recruiting pitches for the volatile but talented forward, who is still only 29 years old. Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy spoke to the media this afternoon, including Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, and had the following to say about the team’s jarring decision:

On why the team felt the need to move on from Smith:

“Josh is the guy on our team with the highest usage rate. He’s taken the most shots. He’s a high-assists guy. He’s got the ball in his hands a lot. We would have had to reduce his role offensively. I don’t think he would have been happy with that at this point in his career. I don’t think it necessarily would have been fair to him. But I think it’s something we need to do to try to move on.”

On how access to the stretch provision impacted the deal:

“We gain an advantage the next two summers and then the three years after that, he sits on our cap – but with the cap going up, I think you’re looking at that being a very small percentage of the cap. It helps a great deal.”

On how this move improves the future of the team:

“I think this is about a few things. It’s, No. 1, making significant improvement, particularly at the defensive end of the floor. No. 2, it’s about developing our young core of guys. No. 3, it’s about acquiring as many assets and as much flexibility as we can going forward to make the moves.”

On what the Pistons will do with the open roster spot:

“Maybe find a guy off the waiver wire, a D-League guy, something like that. Or in a trade where you send one guy out and get two guys back. It does give you some flexibility and I think flexibility right now in trying to move things forward is important.”

On why they didn’t move Smith when they had the chance in the summer:

“I would rather be where we are right now than having taken back the players we were offered that would’ve sat on our cap for the next three years. That would have slowed down our rebuilding effort. We went into the season expecting much, much better than this. To just continue on the same course and not do anything differently at 5 and 23 would be pretty bad leadership at this point. Looking back, I would rather have this situation than the opportunity we had in the summer.”

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Stephenson, Garcia

December 22nd, 2014 at 8:23pm CST by Alex Lee

It’s not shaping up to be a banner night for the league’s Northwest Division, with the Nuggets losing big in Charlotte, the Blazers down 20 at the half in Houston and the Jazz facing a 21-6 Grizzles team in Memphis. But that hasn’t affected the buzz coming out of the division on Monday night. Let’s round up the latest news and notes here:

The Jazz have no interest in pursuing Josh Smith should he hit free agency, reports Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter). This news certainly comes as no surprise, as Utah remains committed to developing their young frontcourt of Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert, as Jones notes.
Matching Charlotte’s $63MM offer sheet on Gordon Hayward, perhaps the most critical member of the Jazz‘s young core, is looking even better for Utah considering that the Hornets ended up with Lance Stephenson as a result, writes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. With the Jazz in Charlotte this past weekend, Genessy rehashes the offseason’s festivities with Hayward, who has enjoyed a breakout season for Utah.
Speaking of Stephenson, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said the much-maligned Hornets guard, who he coached in Indiana, is misunderstood and might be a victim of unrealistic expectations in Charlotte, writes Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post. “Obviously he does some stuff out there on the floor that a lot of people don’t agree with,” Shaw said. “That’s just part of maturity with him. But it’s also part of his edge. You see Kevin Garnett on the court, and he’s always talking sometimes to the opponent, but a lot of times to himself, just trying to do what it takes to get himself pumped up to win the game. Lance is much the same way.” The Nuggets are one of a handful of teams that have been linked to Stephenson.
The Timberwolves did not put in a waiver claim on Francisco Garcia, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (via Twitter). Garcia was waived on Friday after he declined to be traded to Minnesota, but there were reports that the Wolves may still try to add the veteran off waivers.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Thomas, McLemore, Karl

December 22nd, 2014 at 6:54pm CST by Alex Lee

It’s been a busy Monday in the NBA, with teams lining up to capitalize on the Pistons’ bold decision to cut ties with Josh Smith. Three of those teams — the Clippers, Kings and Lakers — reside in the league’s Pacific Division. For what it’s worth, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun tweets that one Raptors player that remains in contact with the Kings‘ Rudy Gay predicts that Smith will land in Sacramento (Twitter link). While we continue to amass the Smith rumors, let’s take a look at what else is going on in the Pacific:

The idea of three first-rate point guards all fitting into the same system “didn’t make sense” to Isaiah Thomas at first, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Thomas still believes it might not work, but the Suns were nonetheless convincing and “genuine” when they made their case that it would, the former Kings guard said.
Playoff-bound teams are making numerous calls to the Kings about Ben McLemore, but Sacramento has no intention of relinquishing the second-year shooting guard, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes as part of his weekly power rankings.
There has been no shortage of reports linking George Karl to the Kings’ inevitable head coaching vacancy, though where he stands among other candidates is hard to pin down at the moment. Appearing today on 95.7 The Game, a Bay Area station, Karl indicated he is “interested in any job,” as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group passes along (via Twitter).
Mitchell Watt has left the Santa Cruz Warriors to pursue other career opportunities, the D-League team announced via its Twitter feed (Twitter link). He’s heading to Ironi Nes Ziona of the Israeli league, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Watt signed a deal with the Golden State Warriors in September that contained a small guarantee, but the Buffalo product was released by the team prior to the regular season.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pistons Waive Josh Smith

December 22nd, 2014 at 10:51am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons have waived Josh Smith, the team announced via press release. A source tipped Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press to the news shortly before it happened (Twitter link). The team will use the stretch provision, tweets Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. The stretch provision will spread Smith’s $13.5MM salaries for 2015/16 and 2016/17 in equal $5.4MM amounts each season through 2019/20, but his full $13.5MM for this season is stuck on the payroll, assuming he clears waivers and assuming Smith and the team didn’t agree to a buyout.

“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,” Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy said in the team’s statement. “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.”

It’s a shocking move, but the team was had been “desperately” seeking to trade Smith and rival teams were insisting that the Pistons attach a first-round pick to him, according to Ellis (Twitter link). The Kings had maintained interest in trading for Smith, though recent reports made it unclear just how warm Sacramento has been to the idea recently after the team appeared to make a strong push for Smith over the summer, when Van Gundy rejected the Kings’ entreaties. Sacramento offered Jason Thompson and Carl Landry, but Detroit said no, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Kings have interest in signing him as a free agent, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter), though they only have the minimum salary to offer.

Smith will surely be a sought-after commodity on the free agent market once he, as expected, clears waivers in two days. The high cost of his contract makes him an unlikely candidate to be claimed off waivers. The Clippers are among the teams with interest, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The forward is close with with new Maverick Rajon Rondo, Chris Mannix of SI.com points out (on Twitter), and the two have spoken many times about playing together, according to Smith. Still, early indications are that the Mavs won’t pursue him and that Rondo won’t press the team to do so, as USA Today’s Sam Amick tweets, though Stein hears that Dallas is interested (Twitter link). The 29-year-old Smith is also close with former AAU teammate Dwight Howard, and the Rockets have had interest in the past, according to Spears (Twitter link). Still, Houston hasn’t decided whether to pursue him at this point, Stein reports (on Twitter). The Rockets would have a financial edge on the Mavs, since they have the $2.077MM biannual exception to offer, while the Mavs, like the Kings and Clippers, are limited to the minimum salary.

The Pistons enticed Smith, a Wallace Prather client, to sign a four-year, $54MM deal in the summer of 2013, but he never worked out in Detroit, and the contract quickly became an albatross as he struggled to fit in with Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. His subtraction ostensibly allows the Pistons to move forward with Monroe and Drummond as their lone marquee big men, but Monroe is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end after signing his qualifying offer this past summer, and he seems to have soured on Detroit. Perhaps letting go of Smith is an appeal of sorts to Monroe, letting him know that he won’t be crowded out of playing time, but that’s just my speculation.

Central Notes: Cavs, Bucks, Bulls, Pistons

December 21st, 2014 at 8:57am CST by ChrisCrouse

Coach David Blatt believes the mediocre play of the Cavs this season is a result of their play on the defensive end, writes Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. “That’s the battle for consistency,” Blatt said of the defensive woes. “A lot of that is the plan and the principles and inherence to those things. A lot of that is commitment on the part of the guys to doing it. Of course you have the element of effort, which is critical. And then finally it’s the pride that you take in doing it if that is really and truly going to become part of who you are. And we’re working towards that.” The Cavs are allowing 99.7 points per game, which ranks 16th in the league.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

The Bucks are unexpectedly in the playoff hunt at 14-14, but even after the season-ending injury to rookie Jabari Parker, the team isn’t likely to make any moves with an eye only on contention this season, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel. “Nothing has changed. This is still about the future and the goals we have as we move forward, and that is to build this into a championship-caliber team,” GM John Hammond said. “We like where we’re at today, and we’re going to continue to battle throughout the season.”
The Bulls have a fortunate problem in that they have too many high caliber players competing for playing time, opines Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald. McGraw argues that although Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson are all veterans who have earned their stripes, rookie Nikola Mirotic is playing at a level that doesn’t warrant being sent to the bench once they are all healthy. The forward is shooting 44.1% from the field and 80.9% from the foul line during his potential rookie of the year campaign.
The Pistons are off to a rough start at 5-22, but the team isn’t making any trades with the short-term in mind, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Ellis notes that Detroit would like to trade Josh Smith, but other teams are asking for a first-rounder to take the the 29-year-old forward. The Pistons were in a similar predicament in 2012 when they sent a first-rounder to Charlotte in order to move Ben Gordon because of his player-friendly contract. Ellis adds that the team is unlikely to have a repeat of such a short-sighted move.

Pistons Rumors: Monroe, Hawks, Smith, Kings

December 17th, 2014 at 2:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons are 5-20 with three frontcourt pieces that don’t appear to fit, making them a ripe contender to pull a trade this season. There’s been plenty of chatter in recent days, and we’ll round up the latest here:

Falk made it clear to Zillgitt, who writes in a full story, that Monroe doesn’t want a trade in part because he wants to honor a commitment he made to Pistons coach/president of basketball ops Stan Van Gundy. Teams have been calling the Pistons about Monroe, but the fifth-year big man continues to stonewall the idea of leaving Detroit. “He made a commitment to Stan (Van Gundy) when he took the qualifying offer that he would work as hard as he could and help the team as best that he could and he would keep his mind open and at the end of the season, he would evaluate all of his options,” Falk said. “That was his plan in July, and that’s his plan in December and that will probably be his plan in February and will be his plan when the season ends.”
Monroe will be seeking the best fit and not necessarily the highest payday in free agency this coming summer, as he and Falk have said, Zillgitt writes.

Earlier updates:

The Pistons are “shopping” Josh Smith and willing to trade him for the right return, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. The Kings remain interested in Smith, a source tells Goodwill, and Kings owner Vivek Ranadive was behind Sacramento’s pursuit from the start, Goodwill adds. Yet while the Kings are still thinking about trying to trade for Smith, they’ve been gradually moving past that idea, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (video link).
Greg Monroe says the Pistons would have to initiate discussions about a trade, since he wouldn’t ask for one, as Goodwill notes in the same piece, writing that it’s likely that Pistons GM Jeff Bower asked agent David Falk about his willingness to approve one. Monroe has a de facto no-trade clause this year because he signed his qualifying offer in the summer, and he’d lose his Bird rights if he gave the OK to a trade. Monroe prefers to play out the season as a Piston, agent David Falk told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, who passes along his report in the same video with Amick.
Detroit asked the Hawks for Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver in exchange for Monroe this summer, but Atlanta wasn’t willing to go along with the sign-and-trade idea, Goodwill writes. The Hawks are reportedly set to pursue Monroe in unrestricted free agency this coming summer.
The Pistons never believed that Monroe would ultimately sign the qualifying offer, according to Goodwill.

Latest On Pistons, Josh Smith, Jennings, Monroe

December 16th, 2014 at 1:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 1:54pm: Smith is the only player the Pistons have talked about trading, and those discussions have merely been preliminary, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.

MONDAY, 9:20pm: Monroe refuted Deveney’s report and said he would never initiate trade talk on his own, writes David Mayo of the MLive Media Group. Van Gundy also brushed aside the idea that the team is actively looking to move Monroe and is asking for a first round pick in return, reports Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (via Twitter). “I don’t know where that stuff comes from,” he said. “We haven’t talked to anybody about trading Greg Monroe. We know there are teams with interest and that’s it.”

2:47pm: A source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that Monroe would approve almost any deal, conflicting with Zillgitt’s report that Monroe is putting the kibosh on trades. The Pistons are seeking a first-rounder in return for Monroe, Deveney hears. Monroe and agent David Falk had sign-and-trade deals in place for Monroe this summer, but the Pistons didn’t want to take back too much salary, according to Deveney.

2:09pm: The Pistons are looking to move Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith, executives from teams around the league tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Teams have been calling Detroit about Greg Monroe, but the soon-to-be free agent has made it known that he’s not interested in waiving the de facto no-trade clause he received when he signed his qualifying offer in the summer, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt tweets. Monroe would lose his Bird rights if he approved a trade, meaning whichever team that acquires him would need ample cap room to re-sign him in the offseason, and that’s dissuading the big man from giving the OK to a move, Zillgitt notes. There are no such restrictions on Jennings or Smith, both of whom are on contracts that cover next season.

Sacramento’s front office targeted Smith this summer over the objections of soon-to-be former coach Michael Malone, though Detroit reportedly had no interest in Sacramento’s proposals, none of which appeared to offer the Pistons much in return. Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press surmised today that the Pistons would probably need to attach a first-round pick to Smith to find a trade partner, making a deal unlikely, though that appeared to be educated speculation. Smith makes $13.5MM this season and each year through 2016/17. His 13.7 points per game this season are his fewest since 2005/06.

Jennings is on a cheaper contract and is only signed through 2015/16. He’ll make $8MM this season and more than $8.344MM next year. He, like Smith, has experienced a dip in scoring production this season, as Jennings is putting up 12.7 PPG, a career low. The Pistons are 5-19 in their first season under coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, who’s pointed to a four-day stretch of off days next week as a time when he’ll assess the direction of the club.

Kings Fire Mike Malone, Eye George Karl

December 15th, 2014 at 4:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:54pm: The Kings have formally announced that they’ve fired Malone and installed Corbin as head coach, though there’s no mention of the word “interim” regarding Corbin in the team’s statement.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, but one we feel is in the best interest of the franchise moving forward,” D’Alessandro said. “Michael made significant contributions to the organization on many levels and helped foster cultural changes that positively impacted our team. We’re thankful for the commitment he exhibited during his time in Sacramento and wish him and his family the very best in the future.”

4:19pm: The team hasn’t issued a formal announcement of the move, but D’Alessandro confirmed that Corbin has replaced Malone as he spoke to reporters in an impromptu press conference that the team is streaming on its website. D’Alessandro refused to answer whether Corbin would hold the job for the rest of the season, as USA Today’s Sam Amick notes (on Twitter).

8:30am: The Kings told coach Michael Malone on Sunday night that they’ve decided to fire him, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Assistant coach Tyrone Corbin will assume the head coaching job on an interim basis and is likely to serve in that capacity for the rest of the season, Wojnarowski writes, though the team has yet to make any formal announcement of a coaching change. Many around the league strongly believe that Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro will pursue George Karl, with whom he worked in Denver, but any such move probably wouldn’t take place until the offseason, Wojnarowski hears. Still, Corbin is expected to be replaced eventually, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick.

The timing of the news is shocking, coming as it does with DeMarcus Cousins having missed the past nine games with viral meningitis. The Kings (11-13) were 9-6 before Cousins fell ill, and had wins over the Spurs, Clippers and Bulls during that stretch, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com points out (Twitter link).

Still, tension between Malone and the Kings brass has been building for the past year, as Wojnarowski details. D’Alessandro and owner Vivek Ranadive want a faster style of play, Wojnarowski writes, as does consultant Chris Mullin, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Mullin, who holds the title of advisor to the chairman, is an influential force within the front office, Amick notes. Management was disappointed with Malone’s player development, game plans and adjustments, a source tells fellow Yahoo! Sports scribe Marc J. Spears (Twitter link). Malone and D’Alessandro didn’t communicate much over the offseason, Amick hears. The front office interviewed candidates for the lead assistant coaching job, but it was Malone who decided to hire Corbin for that role, according to Wojnarowski, who adds that Malone doesn’t believe Corbin attempted to undermine him.

Malone let Ranadive know he was no fan of the Kings’ pursuit of Josh Smith this summer, Wojnarowski reports. Still, Ranadive, who was involved in those talks with the Pistons, and D’Alessandro forged ahead, though Detroit wasn’t biting, as Wojnarowski adds on Twitter.

Karl, who’s been out of coaching since his tenure with the Nuggets ended in the summer of 2013, just weeks after he won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award, is a major fan of Cousins, and the Nuggets attempted to trade for the center during Karl’s time there, The Bee’s Jason Jones tweets.

Wojnarowski identifies Vinny Del Negro as another possible candidate for the job, while Mullin and Mark Jackson are tight, as Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group points out (on Twitter). Still, it’s unclear if the Kings are seriously considering either Del Negro or Jackson.

Ranadive’s first move after assuming ownership of the team in 2013 was to hire Malone, as Jones notes via Twitter, even before D’Alessandro or Mullin came aboard, in a departure from normal convention in which the coach is hired after the management team. Malone, who had been an assistant under Jackson in Golden State before he joined Sacramento, has gone 39-67 in his time with the Kings. Sacramento had given the well-regarded assistant his first NBA coaching job. He’s in the second season of a four-year deal worth approximately $9MM, though the final season is a team option that hasn’t yet been exercised, Amick notes.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eastern Notes: McDaniels, Sixers, Cavs, Pistons

November 22nd, 2014 at 8:43pm CST by ChrisCrouse

With the Sixers season already taking a turn for the worse, rookie K.J. McDaniels needs to play more, argues Tom Moore of Calkins Media. McDaniels, who signed an unusual deal for a second-round draft pick that keeps him under contract for only one season, is averaging 9.3 points per game while playing only 22.6 minutes per game. If McDaniels continues to show potential, he could end up with a more lucrative deal than most players with his experience and draft status. If that is the case, his success may pave the way for other second-round picks to emulate his strategy of signing just a one-year deal, though that is just my speculation.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Sixers do not have a timetable for when the team’s turnaround will begin, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The team began this season with a record of 0-12. Pompey compares the club to the 2007 SuperSonics, who lost their first eight games on their way to 20-62 record. The main difference between the two teams is that the Sonics had Kevin Durant during his rookie season, while the Sixers currently lack so much talent that many suggest the top team in college could beat them.
Kevin Love hasn’t looked like the superstar who many people hailed him as last summer, writes Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Kawakami also cites the Cavs’ current need for an additional wing defender as further evidence that the team shouldn’t have traded Andrew Wiggins. While Wiggins isn’t totally developed as an NBA player, defense is one of his specialties. Cleveland is reportedly one of the teams looking to add Wolves defensive specialist Corey Brewer to its roster.
If the Pistons attempt to trade any of their players this season, Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings make the most sense as candidates due to their large contracts, opines David Mayo of MLive.com in his weekly mailbag. Although trading one or both of these players would financially benefit the team long term, Detroit has no financial urgency to move either contract as the team will be comfortably under the NBA’s salary cap this offseason. Mayo suggests that while the team may have the financial flexibility to re-sign Greg Monroe, it is unlikely he stays since he already turned down a substantial offer from the Pistons and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Pistons Notes: Smith, Monroe, Mitchell

October 6th, 2014 at 5:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Despite last season’s disastrous results, Pistons coach/president Stan Van Gundy says he hasn’t dismissed the idea of using Josh Smith at small forward, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Smith will spend most of his time at the four no matter what, but he’ll experiment with a Smith-Andre Drummond–Greg Monroe front line later this preseason. A look at the latest out of Detroit..

Late last month, Monroe denied speculation that he didn’t want to play alongside Smith and he had a conversation with Van Gundy addressing the speculation. Still, Monroe and Smith haven’t directly spoken about it, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. “I think if things aren’t true, I think the other person who people are kinda throwing under the bus, as a teammate and a man, should come to that individual and let him know that had nothing to do with him,” Smith said.
PIstons forward Tony Mitchell has a guaranteed contract but the team’s numbers game doesn’t favor him, writes David Mayo of MLive.com. There are several factors working against Mitchell: he’s one of 16 Pistons with guaranteed deals, he was drafted by he previous regime, he has the lowest salary of anyone on the team, and the team has a logjam in the frontcourt. Mitchell will likely be playing for his job in tomorrow night’s preseason opener against the Bulls, Mayo writes, though his chances of making the cut could improve if Aaron Gray is sidelined for an extended period.
The NBA’s new lucrative TV deal has veteran players abuzz throughout the league, but Monroe wants to see the younger guys take an active interest in getting a fair share of the pie as well, writes Mayo.

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