12 players the Detroit Pistons signed who were past their prime
12 players the Detroit Pistons signed who were past their prime
Josh Smith
Another of Detroit’s worst free-agent signings, Josh Smith was terrible for the Pistons after having a really good career with Atlanta.
People tend to forget that Smith was really good for the Hawks, leading mediocre teams to the playoffs in six straight seasons before coming to the Detroit Pistons as a free agent.
He never made an All-Star appearance for Atlanta, but did average 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists per game in his best season.
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What Pistons’ fans will mostly remember is yelling “NOOOOOOOOO!” at the TV every time Smith took a shot from long range, as he was an abysmal 3-point shooter. Part of the problem was that the Pistons tried to pigeonhole Smith into a lineup that already had two bigs who couldn’t shoot, pushing him to the perimeter, where he had no business touching a basketball.
He did average 16/6/3 in his best season in Detroit, but did it on woeful shooting splits for awful teams.