Where Should Josh Smith Sign

Photo Credit: Paul Sancya – Associated Press

The latest buzz around the NBA is all about forward Josh Smith being placed on waivers by the struggling Detroit Pistons. Now, Smith can sign anywhere and the Pistons will pay five million dollars a year off his contract until it is completely payed off. So, where should J-Smoove go play basketball? The interested teams so far are the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Sacremento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angles Lakers, and the Miami Heat. I’m going to break down all these destinations and why or why not Smith should sign there (this is only from a basketball point of view, not financial).

Houston Rockets – I strongly dislike this due to Houston already having Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas at the four spot. Motiejunas has been getting valuable growing minutes with Jones sitting out due to injury. Why harm the progression of these two young players just to bring in Smith, who might not even work out for them. The Rockets have been very successful this season and I think the only way Smith would fit in is if he focused purely on defense and around the rim play, which he clearly has no interest in. However, he has a good relationship with Houston’s star center Dwight Howard, which could provide immediate chemistry for the front court.

Dallas Mavericks – Although putting him on the already-loaded Dallas squad would add some star-power to the bench, I would steer clear of Smith if I was Mark Cuban. The Dallas offense is probably the best in the league and it just got what seems to be a huge boost due to the acquisition of star point guard Rajon Rondo. The only reason I would agree with them signing the power forward would be because he is good friends with Rondo and played ball with him in high school. A good floor general like Rondo could be just what Smith needs to get his game on track again. However, I still beleive Dallas should turn their heads on this one.

Sacramento Kings – The Kings are a good team already, but they need a point guard to have long term success. However, if they can land J-Smoove and he plays good this year, that would absolutely help them form a championship team and automatically gives them an elite front court with DeMarcus Cousins already at center. Now, if Smith would’ve been released a week earlier, I think Sacremento would have pushed much harder for a Rajon Rondo trade. In the long run I think it would be a good move to sign Smith.

Los Angeles Clippers -Wouldn’t this be fun. Chris Paul throwing alley-oops to Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Josh Smith. Man, talk about point guard heaven for CP3. He would certainly enjoy having another athletic big man to pass the rock to. It would also help out on defense having Smith coming off your bench. Not to mention Doc Rivers could certainly fix an attitude problem. Ask Glen Davis about his bad attitude with Rivers in Boston. Overall, it seems like a perfect fit except for one problem: Smith can’t shoot. If LA can find a way to turn the man back into an All-Star caliber player, it might just push them over the edge into a serios contender.

Los Angeles Lakers – With Kobe Bryant, players with bad habits don’t last very long in LakerLand. I don’t think Smith would improve this team a lot, however it might make the team somewhat exciting to watch while they lose this year. Maybe getting released has opened J-Smoove’s eyes, and he’ll get his game turned around. That’s the beauty of this situation for Smith, it is a no-risk signing. Even if he stinks it up and continues to take and miss three pointers, the Lakers already stink, so he isn’t doing an damage to playoff hopes. Plus this might please the Black Mamba having another high name player on the roster.

Miami Heat – I’m a little mixed up on this one, because the Heat are struggling but still are a playoff team in the weak Eastern conference. Dwyane Wade is in and out of the lineup and Chris Bosh is having a great season. Luol Deng is playing in his role and seems to be a nice fit in South Beach. All in all, I would look for other names if I was Miami. But if indeed Smith gets his act together and stops clanking threes constantly, Miami could use the help right now to make a push for the playoffs. But I’m sure Pat Riley is drooling at the mouth at the thought of having a former star available for him.

So, now that I’ve evaluated all the landing spots for Josh Smith, I think the best scenario is in Los Angeles. But not with the Lakers, yeah you read that right. Smith should go crawling to the Clippers begging for a contract because this is the situation that would give him the most success and also the best coach in Doc Rivers. You’ve heard my opinion but now we’re all waiting to see where J-Smoove decides to goes.

Where do you think J-Smoove will end up? Comment below!