NBA Free Agency: 10 players most likely to move this summer
By Tom West
8. Josh Smith
As happy as the Houston Rockets said they were to bring back Josh Smith after he chose the Clippers in free agency last year — they brought him back to Houston for cash and a couple of European players who won’t amount to anything — it’s hard to see Smith sticking around in 2016.
And why would he?
After being such a talented, versatile player in Atlanta over the first nine seasons of his career, averaging 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game by just his third year in the NBA, Smith received constant critique in Detroit and nothing has changed since. He’s emerged as the player who shoots too many threes despite not being able to shoot threes, he isn’t capable enough to guard the post as a small-ball center, and his shot selection leaves so much to be desired.
Doc Rivers wanted him to be that versatile playmaker and small-ball center for the Clippers, but it failed miserably. He ended up headlining painful bench lineups, and the team didn’t hesitate to send him back to Houston in one of the more humorous narratives of trade season. And once he returned to the Rockets, averages of 6.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.6 blocks in 18.3 minutes per game (with woeful 34.3 percent shooting) didn’t do much to improve his value.
There haven’t been many murmurs yet to suggest what may be coming for Smith in free agency this summer. After a 14-game stretch of DNP’s in March and minimal playing time in the playoffs, though, it doesn’t make much sense for the Rockets to pursue signing a new deal for him.
More to the point, why would anyone want to stay in such a terrible situation?
Next: 7. Roy Hibbert