This article is part of our Charlie's NBAngle series.
The only thing surprising about the Josh Smith/Detroit Pistons split is the way it happened. The relationship was doomed to fail. Putting Smith in the same frontcourt as Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe made him the nominal small forward - more or less encouraging him to float out to the perimeter and jack threes - to indulge all of his worst instincts as a basketball player. Smith's miserable season-plus as a Piston killed his trade value; Stan Van Gundy reportedly got a "thanks, no thanks" from every other NBA franchise before finally waiving Smith on December 22nd. But just two seasons ago, when he was still a member of the Hawks, Smith was an absolute force. The question becomes, can he recapture his Atlanta form as a member of the Rockets?
The short answer: probably not, if only because he seems to have lost a step since then. Much of his success was built upon his freakish athleticism. But a return to the role he's best-suited to play - an athletic big with the ability to defend out on the wing - should lead to major improvement. But that renaissance may take some time. Smith scored 21 in his first outing with the Rockets, but in three games since he's scored 13 total points. Still, we're taking the rest of his New Year's Eve stat line - three steals, three assists, three blocks - as a very encouraging sign. Buy low while you still can.
Speaking of NBA players new to Texas, Rajon Rondo has handled the move from Boston to Dallas very nicely thus far. Despite the awkward mid-season transition, his numbers haven't suffered a bit. (Must be the lack of a state income tax.)
Rondo's one misstep came off the court, when he admitted to reporters that he hasn't played defense "in a couple years." That quote will probably generate more "told you so's" than outrage in Boston, where Rondo developed quite a reputation for loafing - and then turning his effort up a notch for national TV broadcasts and playoff games.
Of course, with the Mavs in contention for the top spot in the West, every game they play this season will be a high-leverage affair. Which means we could be seeing "playoff Rondo" for the remainder of this season. And that is almost certainly what Mark Cuban had in mind when he made the trade.
Something we won't be seeing - for a couple of weeks, at least - is LeBron James. James will be in street clothes while he recovers from knee and back injuries. Weirdly, James' mini-vacation could be exactly what his team needs.
James' hiatus will give Cavs coach David Blatt the opportunity to re-assert himself as the alpha dog on the Cleveland bench. Over the next two weeks, he has a perfect excuse to tinker a bit; to get Kevin Love more involved in the offense, to see if Tristan Thompson can fill the void left by Anderson Varejao's season-ending injury, and to do so while day-to-day expectations are the lowest they're ever going to be.
They may lose a few games in the process, but that may not matter in the long run; the Cavs seem unlikely to catch the Bulls, Raptors, Wizards or Hawks for a playoff spot in the top half of the East and equally unlikely to drop below the Bucks, Nets and Heat and out of the playoffs entirely.
Thompson (36.5% owned in ESPN.com leagues) is a player I'd be looking to add right now.
Around the League:
The Knicks should do exactly what the Cavaliers are doing and shut Carmelo Anthony down for a couple of weeks. Anthony has been battling a knee injury and could probably benefit from the rest... and it's hard to imagine the team playing worse without him. Weirdly, the Knicks are reportedly letting Anthony decide if he's well enough to play in any given game, which is a major departure from the approach they've used in the past with Amar'e Stoudemire and others.
Make sure you read Andre' Snellings' latest columns on Rotowire, especially if you're just looking up from your fantasy NFL teams and realizing your NBA teams are producing at a Knicks-ian rate.
Marcus Smart probably has a bright future in the league, but he hasn't stepped in to the void created by Rajon Rondo's departure... not yet, anyway. At this stage of his career, Smart seems to be more a combo guard than a true point, which has led Brad Stevens to use Evan Turner as his starting one in recent games. While he figures out the rotation, Stevens has been dividing minutes more or less evenly between Turner, Smart and Jameer Nelson, which depresses fantasy values of all three players.
Remember when the Kings were one of this season's most pleasant surprises? Seems like longer than six weeks ago, don't it? The surprise firing of coach Mike Malone did not have the desired effect; the team is in a tailspin and star big man DeMarcus Cousins is in more-or-less open revolt. The combination of Cousins and Rudy Gay looks particularly shaky right now; Gay appears to be going through the motions, and Cousins seems particularly frustrated by his teammates' spotty effort. Don't be surprised if there's another shakeup in Sacramento soon.
Sixers coach Brett Brown told reporters that he sees Nerlens Noel as a center. That could create an awkward situation next season when Joel Embiid is ready to take the floor. But in the short term, it could create an opportunity for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to get minutes at the four. Mbah a Moute has the potential for excellent "garbage man" fantasy numbers if given the opportunity.
