Pistons willing to deal Josh Smith but will have hard time finding trading partners

[Johnnydollaz89]

Josh Smith is having the worst season of his career.

Playing far too much small forward, a position he can handle only in select matchups, his defense has really fallen off. Though Smith defends power forwards well, his his lack of speed on the perimeter kills his ability to chase wings around screens. He’s also taking way too many jumpers and not getting inside enough, an issue that exists no matter which forward position he’s playing.

Some of that is Smith fault, and some of that is the Pistons’. But it’s all the Pistons’ problem.

The Pistons signed Smith to a four-year, $54 million contract last summer, and they’ll have to pay him all that money – or find someone else to do it.

Chris Broussard of ESPN:

The Josh Smith experiment in Detroit is not going well, and there’s strong opinion around the league that the Pistons would trade him if they could — and “could” is the key word. Since Smith is in the first year of a four-year, $56 million deal, he is one of the most untradable players in the league.

If the Pistons are desperate to trade Smith, that’s something people around the league would know, because that would mean the Pistons are calling around to shop him.

That would also jive with the Pistons’ reported plan to keep Greg Monroe.

Here are a few Smith trade ideas, from least appealing to most appealing from a Pistons perspective:

Smith to the Celtics for Gerald Wallace (three years remaining on his contract) – with Keith Bogans (zero remaining guaranteed years) included to make salaries match
Smith to the Knicks for Andrea Bargnani (two years remaining)
Smith to the Bobcats for Ben Gordon (expiring contract)
Smith to the Suns for Emeka Okafor (expiring contract whose salary is partially covered by insurance)

Some of those players would make the Pistons a little better, some a little worse. But that’s not the point here. These deals are totally about the contracts.

Gordon would be the most interesting deal of the four. The Pistons actually traded Gordon and a first-round pick to Charlotte to clear the cap room used to sign Smith. The Bobcats could really use a power forward, and Smith would fit relatively well in Charlotte.

But would Dumars so publically admit a mistake? After all, the series of transactions – trading Gordon and a pick for Corey Maggette’s expiring contract, signing Smith, trading Smith for Gordon – would essentially leave the Pistons nothing to show for their troubles except a lost first-round pick.

In a completely logical world, those previous moves wouldn’t matter. They’re sunk costs. If trading Smith for Gordon improves the Pistons’ outlook now, they should do it.

Obviously, it doesn’t always work that way.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...if-they-could/

Good luck finding somebody to take on that contract.

 

[Jims_Doors]

Already on the first page.

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...ons-would-trade-josh-smith-if-they-could.html

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

My mistake.