It appears that Rajon Rondo’s attempts to woo his old teammate to Dallas were unsuccessful.
Josh Smith, who played his high school ball with Rondo at Oak Hill Academy, is set to sign with the Houston Rockets after clearing waivers, league sources told Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski. Smith is scheduled to clear waivers at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The forward got off to a terrible start this season, prompting the Detroit Pistons to waive him Monday with two years still remaining on his contract. Despite these struggles, Smith reportedly garnered significant interest on the open market.
The Mavericks and Rockets — whose star, Dwight Howard, is another good friend of Smith’s — were the teams most mentioned in these rumors, and Houston reportedly assured Smith he would have a spot in the starting lineup. Dallas, which added Rondo last week to an already loaded lineup, couldn’t make that promise.
Smith averaged 13.1 points and shot just 39.1 percent from the floor — both well below his career average — in 28 games with the Pistons this season.
Thumbnail photo via Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports Images
