Why the Pistons waived Josh Smith, and what could happen next (Ball Don't Lie)

[Yahoo! Sports - NBA -]

It was a massive surprise until you truly thought it out. The Detroit Pistons waived Josh Smith on Monday using the NBA’s stretch provision , a collective bargaining agreement complement that allows you to dump his player without having to see the full amount of his salary weighted against your salary cap totals at the rate of the originally signed-for yearly rates. Smith had disappointed terribly in his two seasons with the Pistons, as was his gradual decline over his last season in Atlanta. Former Pistons general manager Joe Dumars, in last-ditch attempt to turn around his team’s lacking fortunes via the free agent market, whiffed on signing Smith to a four-year, $54 million contract in the summer of 2013 despite scads of information that would tell you that a giant frontcourt featuring Smith, power forward Greg Monroe, and center Andre Drummond absolutely would not work. It was the last straw that cost Dumars his job, as the triptych predictably struggled. New Pistons coach and overall personnel boss Stan Van Gundy decided on giving Josh one last shot over his first offseason, which likely had less to do with his thoughts on Smith’s potential and more to do with the asset-less trade offers he was proposed for Smith. Just seven weeks into the season, however, Van Gundy has had enough. From the Pistons’ press release : "Our team has not performed the way we had expected throughout the first third of the season and adjustments need to be made in terms of our focus and direction," said Stan Van Gundy, Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons. "We are shifting priorities to aggressively develop our younger players while also expanding the roles of other players in the current rotation to improve performance and build for our future. As we expand certain roles, others will be reduced. In fairness to Josh, being a highly versatile 10-year veteran in this league, we feel it's best to give him his freedom to move forward. We have full respect for Josh as a player and a person." Nobody thought the Pistons a surefire Conference contender, but there was some hope that competent coaching by Van Gundy could result in a possible playoff hopeful. The 5-23 team has disappointed, though, and though Smith was the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.1 a game, he needed 14 shots to get there. I mean, look:

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