Draymond Green gets $17M a year. Let's look at what that $17M brings to the table: - elite defense (holds player he guards to ~6% less than their normal FG%); - passable floor spacer for a big man (shot 33% on a good number of 3 point attempts last regular season); - great playmaking for a big man (I believe he had like 3.7 assists for example); - below average at creating his own shot - doesn't really draw a double team. That got him $17M a year. Let's look at how Josh Smith stacks up: - elite defense (holds player he guards to ~4% less than their normal FG%. This is what you all overlook. That's why starting him against Blake Griffin turned us around. Terrence Jones SUCKS at defense. He was scorched in the playoffs). - passable floor spacer for a big man (shot 33% for the Rockets in the regular season last year and 37.5% in the playoffs); - great playmaking for a big man (Josh Smith has bettered 3.7 APG several times in his career); - average at creating his own shot to better than average; - plus all those Blocks and Assists! And yet CF thinks Josh Smith is barely worth the MLE. A joke.
Because Josh Smith is highly inconsistent with his game. His shooting is extremely volatile. He is not a good team defender and is prone to missing switches and assignments. He turns the ball over like a machine. He also does not give maximum effort all the time.
Name me a shooter is not inconsistent. Even the best 3 point shooters do not shoot 40% every night. Have you never played fantasy basketball? You cannot rely on a shooter to be consistent night in/night out.
Josh was awesome with us last year. Very much want him back. Inconsistent, but a difference maker at a relatively cheap price.
Terribly underrated Without Smith we don't win any of those us series. Josh Smith SAVED us & James Harden from one of us more disappointing performances. Had we lost game 6, headlines read "MCHALE BENCHES HARDEN IN FINAL GAME. BEARD CHOKES AGAIN!". Josh Smith, and Brew are the reason we feel good about our chances
How ironic that a lot of posters who are more than willing to let Josh walk are the same ones who point out that by virtue of making it to the WC finals, this team only needs a few minor tweaks. Had we lost the series with the Clippers they would be in panic mode now.
I don't know about underrated. You know what you're getting with Smoove. At times he falls asleep on defense and takes bad shots. Sometimes he is the best player on the court on both ends. Would love him back as a backup to DMO (if we don't land LMA).
Extremely underrated, and extremely good post. Much of the Smoove (not Smooth) criticism is perpetuated by the haters who were proven absolutely wrong about his acquisition and fit on the Rockets. They take every potshot possible at every little flaw, overexaggerating to fit their agenda.
And the bad part is that his inconsistent good play was on a 1 year bi-annual deal, so conceivably he had something to play for last year. He played for a new contract as well as to show a league that was sour on him that he could still play. If he resigns for anything more than a 1 year deal, will he be as motivated. And if not how much more inconsistent will he be.
Smith is inconsistent with a top dog mindset. That 's his biggest problem and makes him dangerous. He can help you big time like he did against the Clippers are he can implode and chuck a bunch of wild threes to the point he's a detriment to the team.
Interesting take seeing as how he became good friends with many of the guys on the Rockets this year.
I think it would be a mistake to let him walk, the D-mo and Smith rotation would be great, very versatile, good defense. If we let Smith walk, we are making Jones our backup for D-mo, and with that, we will likely be walking into next off season with them both being FA's pursuing 10+ million dollar deals.
Good posts. Love it when we set aside perceptions and look at the data. With all the money being thrown around, i have a hard time believing he comes back. Yeah he loves Howard, he likes McHale, yeah he's getting Detroit money but in the end, i think pride wins out. He's watching players less accomplished than him sign huge contracts. He watches the Rockets start their Free Agency by pursuing a guy who plays his position (not saying Morey did anything wrong). i think he'll have a chip on his shoulder and will sign a deal somewhere for 2/3 years at around $8 mil/year. would love to have him back though.
