The Top 10 Most Important Detroit Pistons Moments of the Decade

10. Pistons Sign Josh Smith

Signing Josh Smith, in retrospect, was a rash decision. He was a band-aid of a player who was signed to help the Pistons meet the arbitrary benchmark of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. This decade was marred with short-sighted decisions such as this, desperate attempts to appease fans and end playoff droughts, instead of taking the necessary steps to build a contender or even a team that made sense.

Prior to the Josh Smith signing, then Pistons GM Joe Dumars had overseen the longest playoff drought since 1978 – 1983. Combine that with slippage in attendance, a new boss in owner Tom Gores, and it was clear that Joe Dumars was beginning to feel the pressure to bring the Pistons back to relevancy. Josh Smith, who was like LeBron James if he had been lobotomized, was the top free agent available, after Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.

Even at the time of the signing, it was a head-scratcher. That’s not to say Josh Smith wasn’t a talented player (that was part of what made him so frustrating) but the Pistons would be trotting out a starting lineup comprised of Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond, and Smith. None of which could reliably shoot outside of 12-feet. A spacing disaster.

In his first season with the team, Smith shot 41.9 percent from the floor and a mystifying 26.4 percent from three,  but that didn’t stop him from taking nearly 3 and a half threes per game. Pair that with a usage rate of 24.3 percent and you have the basketball equivalent of a horror film.

Smith’s second season wasn’t any better. After a cataclysmic 5 – 23 start to the season, Head Coach & President Stan Van Gundy elected to waive Josh Smith using the Stretch Provision. The Stretch Provision allowed the Pistons to take the $27 million Smith was owed over the next 2 years and stretch it out to $5.4 million over 5 years. A decision that has allowed Smith’s contract to outlast both Van Gundy’s and Smith’s time in the NBA. Remarkable.

There’s an argument for the Smith signing to be even higher on the list due to this fun little side note; not only did he help sabotage 2 Pistons seasons, he played a role in breaking up the Chris Paul & Blake Griffin Clippers, allowing the Pistons to trade for Griffin.

After being waived by the Pistons, Smith bounced from the Rockets to the Clippers, then back to the Rockets. The Rockets met the Clippers in the 2nd Round of the Western Conference Playoffs. During the now infamous Game 6 of that series, Josh Smith, in a sick twist of fate, temporarily shed his inability to make 3-pointers.  He made 4 of 7, leading a 40 Point 4th quarter explosion by the Rockets.

The Clippers never really recovered from that 4th quarter collapse. They went on to lose Game 7 of that series and then got bounced in the first round the next two years. Chris Paul was traded to the Rockets and Griffin to the Pistons. The NBA is weird.