Detroit Pistons, Josh Smith expecting bounce back season
By Bryan Rose
When the Detroit Pistons decided to give Josh Smith a four-year, $54 million dollar deal during the 2013 offseason, many questioned the move.
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It wasn’t that Josh Smith wasn’t worthy of such a deal, rather would he live up to it? The answer through one season is a resounding no.
Smith was nothing short of awful for the Detroit Pistons last season and at times appeared to not care that he was playing poorly. That lead to alleged trade discussions involving the forward this offseason though no team was willing to offer anything other than expiring contracts in return for the 28-year-old forward.
Understandably, Detroit was hesitant to make such a move, especially since they and Smith himself expect a bounce back season.
“We understand each other,” Josh Smith said of his interactions with Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy. “I know he knows how focused I am as a player in order to become the leader that he wants me to be. I’m just trying to come in and set the example early and show everybody we have to put in work to get productive outcomes for a good season. We just want our main focus and concern to gel early because there are some new faces on the team now and we want to create that camaraderie early on.”
Considering how poorly Smith played last season, a bounce back year seems guaranteed considering his play couldn’t get much worse. Still, if he doesn’t become the Josh Smith that was an All-Star caliber player for the Atlanta Hawks, you’d have to assume we haven’t heard the last of trade rumors involving the forward.