I'm afraid this is true. He wasn't a star or anything but his height could have been nice and Harden could have absolutely brought the best out of him offensively, but the fact is he's out of the league for good reason. Though if we got him regardless of how I think he is, I would absolutely mention Codman's 'Freebird' comment.
Hakeem has been out of the game for years, but he can still dreamshake. I imagine Larry being 28 and only 2 years removed from the league, a lot of what he was good at is still there. But you've got to practice a lot to use that defensive quickness he used to have. His defensive instincts were incredible and I personally that comes from natural smarts and repetitive court muscle memory. For me his inclusion would depend on him, whether he's going to work hard and show up every day or not. He's not worth ruining our locker room vibe over, but if he can still use his incredible lateral quickness to slow down paint point production, why not.
Y'know, if he's interested, it wouldn't cost anything to bring him in for a workout. I trust D'Antoni and his staff to determine if he can still play at this level. Dismissing him without actually knowing seems a little foolish, especially since the Venn diagram of Sanders' skillset and the Rockets biggest needs are pretty much a single circle.
Josh Smith would be a 5 under D'Antoni who would be an excellent roller on PNR. He is also a very capable ball handler and excellent passer, can't have enough of those no matter the system. And he's still a very good rim protector. Smoove can also play the 4 in event of injury/emergency.
The Josh Smith today is pretty much none of this. maybe the only part that is valid is playing the 4 part
I recall similar hate the first time Smoove was suggested and then brought in by the Rockets 2 seasons ago. WCF was a nice run, right? And Smoove under MDA is far different than Smoove under McHale, or even more tragic, Smoove under JBB. Smoove is low risk, already has great chemistry with the core of the team and would provide a big desperately needed by a Rockets' team in contention but lacking real resources for a quality trade. If MDA works him out and says no, then I'm good with that too. But let's exhaust all options.
Not from me. At the time I wrote Christmas came early when Smoove chose us. However, Josh has clearly lost several steps. In addition, I'd be concerned about the chemistry if JS returned. Not that he's a bad guy or bad teammate. Just want to keep as far away from last years locker room as possible. For the same reason I was happy we passed on Jason Terry. As currently constructed, Harden is the undisputed leader on and off the court.
I mean don't we now know that Josh Smith wasn't the catalyst of the locker room meltdown last season??
I didn't say that. I said the opposite. He's not a bad teammate or a bad person. Neither was Jet Terry. Sometimes it's best to just move on. It's addition by subtraction. It allowed/forced Harden to grow as the unquestioned leader on and off the court. Moreover, Josh Smith has lost steps. Why do you think Doc Rivers gave him away to the team that beat him? I love the guy but he's no longer a quality NBA player.
Doc Rivers is not the guy I would use to justify not signing Josh Smith. He power grabbed him from the Rockets and then didn't have a clue on how to use him. And addition by subtraction only makes sense if the players in question were bad players or bad teammates. Neither Smoove or JET qualify. Both should be end of the bench vets who can come in for a game or two in the postseason and light it up/provide key act to save game. Again, break glass in case of emergency.
The regression of Josh's game we witnessed after reacquiring him proved Doc was right. The fact that all 30 NBA teams passed on Josh Smith this season tells me those thoughts are unanimous.
Yeah, not putting a lot of faith in what we saw last season. JBB was one of, if not the worst, head coaches in the NBA last season. No one looked good last season, absolutely no one.
