The gates of NBA free agency opened at midnight, and while most of the attention has gone to the likes of the heavily courted Dwight Howard, plenty of other big pieces are also in flux. That includes Josh Smith, who will probably leave Atlanta for good this offseason.
Smith and the Pistons have started talking about a deal, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Detroit plans to extend a “substantial four-year offer” and is making Smith the team’s top priority, although Chris Broussard of ESPN notes that no offer has been made yet.
The Pistons are moving quickly because they think other teams will be interested in Smith, but only once they can’t get Howard, Wojnarowski reports. Smith is one of the best available forwards in the league and averaged 17.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists last season.
The Hawks have not shown interest in re-signing Smith, and they would likely only work on a deal if it ended in a sign-and-trade, according to Wojnarowski.
