NBA Rumors: Pistons want to draft Josh Smith replacement
By Josh Hill
The Detroit Pistons had a better roster in 2013-14 than their record suggested and it’s now up to the new regime in town to try and turn things around and get things back on track.
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That’s the reason Stan Van Gundy was brought in and it’s the reason that the Pistons will be looking long and hard at the draft to find a replacement that for Josh Smith that would allow him to be better utilized on the roster.
According to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, the Pistons won’t be looking to totally replace Smith’s roster spot, rather they want to draft a small forward to take Smith’s starting spot so that Stan Van Gundy can move the veteran over to a Sixth Man role that would fit him so much better.
Smith was just atrocious last year which was unfortunate considering he’s a lot better than his 2013-14 production suggests. Detroit didn’t sign up for the version of Smith they got last year and moving him to a Sixth Man role might be something that returns him tot he production we were expecting to see when he was in Atlanta.
There’s no saying he’ll for sure rebound in 2014-15, but if he’s put in a proper role he might flourish. All we know though is that role isn’t in the starting lineup and the Pistons have to not only find out a proper player to draft to replace him, but they need to first find out how to get a decent first rounder if they want this plan to make any sense to anyone.