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Fact: If you made a "Best Forwards in Basketball" list right now, LeBron and Durant would go first and second, obviously, followed by Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Dirk Nowitzki. If Kevin Love is healthy, I'd have him sixth, followed by Blake Griffin seventh.8 You know who's eighth if you threw out salaries and just based this list on "What am I getting every night on both ends RIGHT NOW if I need a quality forward to play 36 minutes a night for me as my best or second-best player on a playoff team"? That's right, Josh Smith. You'd take him over Serge Ibaka, Anthony Davis and everyone else except mayyyyyyyybe David West.

So Detroit paid less than max money for, right now, the eighth-best forward in basketball. That's a bad idea??? Now they can build around Andre Drummond, Smith, Greg Monroe, Brandon Jennings (more on him in a second) and $17 million in expirings (Charlie Villanueva and Rodney Stuckey) that could absolutely be flipped for one more asset. What's wrong with that? Especially if Drummond (a potential stud who blossomed this summer into a 290-pound, 6-percent-body-fat Dwight Howard look-alike) continues to improve? Hold on, one more Pistons quote.

To Brandon Jennings, who went from "Oh God, someone's gonna give him the max this summer and it's gonna be a calamity" to "Good Lord, getting that guy for three years and $25 million is a borderline hijacking!" I loved that trade for Detroit, if only because they're going to be 2014's most entertaining crunch-time team on League Pass: I can't even imagine how many different ways Twitter is going to ridicule Josh Smith and Jennings fighting to outdo each other on off-balance "no-no-no-YES!" shots with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. Regardless, that's an entertaining team. Even if this ruined any chance of my dream New Year's Eve mega-tank deal for the Celtics: Rondo, Courtney Lee and Wallace's $30.3 million basketball cadaver for Monroe, Knight, the Villanueva–Stuckey expirings and a 2016 unprotected no. 1 pick. Sayonara, my Trade Machine fantasy.

Fact: For the past five years, he's been the best or second-best player for a team that went 228-166 and made the playoffs every year.

Fact: Since 2008, Josh Smith has won more playoff series (three) than Chris Paul (two).

Fact: In the last four seasons, Josh Smith averaged 17.0 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 3.9 assists and 3.2 stocks (steals + blocks) while shooting 47.5 percent and missing just 12 games total.

Fact: In nine years, Josh Smith never missed more than 13 games in one season, and he's missed only 46 games total for his career. He's durable as hell.

Fact: If you made a "Best Forwards in Basketball" list right now, LeBron and Durant would go first and second, obviously, followed by Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Dirk Nowitzki. If Kevin Love is healthy, I'd have him sixth, followed by Blake Griffin seventh.8 You know who's eighth if you threw out salaries and just based this list on "What am I getting every night on both ends RIGHT NOW if I need a quality forward to play 36 minutes a night for me as my best or second-best player on a playoff team"? That's right, Josh Smith. You'd take him over Serge Ibaka, Anthony Davis and everyone else except mayyyyyyyybe David West.

So Detroit paid less than max money for, right now, the eighth-best forward in basketball

vic wrote:It all boils down to Cheeks. He can turn himself into a legendary coach, or he can let the players run the team.

He's got all the talent he needs and all the depth he needs. Doc Rivers had a horrible record before the Big 3. Coaches don't become good until they get great players. Literally all he has to do is let the best players play, reign in bad shots, and give them appropriate rest.