AUBURN HILLS, Michigan: The Detroit Pistons put on a full-court press to recruit Josh Smith when they figured the top two free agents, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, wouldn’t be interested in playing in the Motor City.
Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars met with Smith for five hours in Los Angeles on July 1 when the NBA’s free agency period began.
“I was selling, selling hard,” Dumars said.
And, Smith was buying.
The Pistons signed Smith to a $54 million, four-year contract Wednesday, when he raved at a news conference about his long talk with Dumars last week.
“I felt comfortable, that’s why the meeting lasted so long,” Smith said.
Smith is the only NBA player to average at least 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal per game since blocks and steals became an official league statistic four decades ago, according to STATS LLC.
“Josh was the No. 1 guy we went after in free agency,” said Dumars, who also acknowledged talking to free agent Andre Iguodala. “The primary reason for Josh being the No. 1 guy was because of his versatility. He’s a 6-9, athletic forward who can play both positions and at both ends of the floor.”
Detroit desperately needed to sign one of the top free agents because the franchise is mired in a four-year postseason drought, its longest since missing six straight from 1978 through 1983.
Smith expects the Pistons will snap the streak next season.
“I feel like we can definitely be a playoff team, and a contender,” he said.
Dumars, though, isn’t ready to say his rebuilding project is complete.
“Knowing a little bit about building championships, you know it’s a long road and you need multiple talented pieces and we just got one talented piece,” said Dumars, who won two titles in Detroit as a shooting guard and led the franchise to a third championship from the front office. “By no means are we even remotely proclaiming (we’re a) championship contender.”
Next week, the Pistons plan to add depth by signing Italian forward Luigi Datome and re-signing backup point guard Will Bynum.
“We’ll still have about $4 million of cap space left, so we’ll keep working,” Dumars said.
The Pistons also confirmed Rasheed Wallace has rejoined the team as a first-year assistant coach on Maurice Cheeks’ staff.
“He’s going to motivate guys, he’s going to push guys and challenge guys,” Dumars said of Wallace, a key player on Detroit’s 2004 NBA championship team. “We thought that would be great for our young bigs.”
The Pistons will likely start the 27-year-old Smith in their frontcourt with 23-year-old power forward Greg Monroe and center Andre Drummond, who turns 20 next in August. The backcourt will include Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the No. 8 overall pick in the draft.
“I feel like we can be an elite basketball team,” Smith said.
Smith led Atlanta with 17.5 points per game last season, averaging 8.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 steals. He has played only for his hometown Hawks, who drafted him No. 17 overall out of high school in 2004, but he was ready to move on.
“When I first met with Joe, he had me sold from the word ‘go,“’ Smith recalled. “This is an organization that is a successful organization. I’ve always wanted to be part of a good organization that has a lot of die-hard fans.”
Pistons sign Josh Smith to $ 54 m, 4-year contract
Pistons sign Josh Smith to $ 54 m, 4-year contract
Gauff overcomes Eala, joins Svitolina in Dubai Tennis Championships final 4
- World No. 4 cruises past the crowd favorite to end the Filipina’s fairytale and book semifinal place
- Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, the 2017 and 2018 winner, chasing 3rd crown after beating Lucky Loser Antonia Ruzic
DUBAI: World No. 4 Coco Gauff cruised into the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday night, comfortably overcoming a passionate partisan crowd and the object of its affection, Filipina sensation Alexandra Eala.
Gauff will now meet Elina Svitolina, the two-time Dubai champion who unceremoniously dumped her out of the Australian Open in straight sets last month.
American superstar and No. 3 seed Gauff had, by her own admission, played pretty poorly in her Round of 16 win over Elise Mertens on Wednesday, hitting 16 double-faults and being forced to save three match-points. Yet while she did not quite bring her A-game to the packed stadium to face Eala, such was the gap in quality that she still saw off her popular Pinoy opponent 6-0, 6-2 inside 68 minutes.
Eala looked tentative from the first game, quickly losing her first service game. Despite Gauff firing off the first of three first-set double-faults, the 20-year-old Filipina was then unable to capitalize, making the wrong decision, finding the net, hitting long. In the third game, she saved a breakpoint but then volleyed wide at deuce to hand advantage to her opponent, who gratefully took the next point to go 3-0.
In an era when sports followers are often accused of being fair-weather fans, the Kabayan crowd was commendable. They have passionately followed Eala’s every step this week and continued to support her against Gauff. Waving posters and signs — including one that read “UAE: United for Alexa Eala” — they cheered every point as if their voices alone could turn the tide.
They could not, of course, and the second set continued in the same vein. Gauff added two more breaks to take her winning run to 10 consecutive games, though Eala did finally get on the scorecard at 4-1.
It came after a prolonged point, punctuated by increasing noise from the crowd, with both players battling and shuttling between baseline and net. Eala, seeing her scoreboard 0 change to 1, raised an arm and sent the crowd wild.
Spurred on by the shouts yet against the run of play, the world No. 47 then broke to go 2-4, but any hope of a miracle from Manila was short-lived as Gauff came back and consolidated.
“I could have served a little better, but I made it in when it mattered,” Gauff said afterwards. “Alex is a tough competitor. Even when I was up, I knew she could come back at any given moment, I’ve seen her do it before.”
Addressing the raucous fans directly, she added: “I know you were mostly supporting Alex, but it is great to be on a crowded court. I’ve played this tournament (for) many years and to see this stadium full means a lot. Sometimes it’s tough when you’re playing against a ‘home crowd’, but I think it’s great for the sport, so keep being enthusiastic and keep rooting for your player.”
Only a year separates the two, yet while Eala won the 2022 US Open Junior title, Gauff won the US Open proper 12 months later. She added a second Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros last year and her record against players her junior now stands at 14-2. Experience counts, and Eala will benefit from her Dubai defeat.
“Obviously, I think the gap between us was pretty prominent,” said Eala, who is expected to rise to world No. 32 in the WTA rankings on Monday.
“That’s not to say that I’m so far out of reach from these players … The score says a lot, but I think I’m not so disappointed. I keep my head up. I feel good about the whole week, and how I’ve been doing. So, the biggest takeaway for me, honestly, is that I’m on the right path.”
Gauff will face Svitolina in Friday’s final four after the Ukrainian came back from a set down to beat surprise package Antonia Ruzic. Svitolina is the last player to win back-to-back titles in Dubai, and her march to a third crown continues after a determined display. It would mark her first title in Dubai since she became a mother and would put the 31-year-old level with Venus Williams, one behind record-holder Justine Henin.
Just hours after Eala’s fairytale ended it looked like another might emerge, this time with Ruzic as protagonist. The diminutive Croatian lost in first-round qualifying last Friday but battled through to the quarterfinals as a Lucky Loser. On Wednesday, her good fortune saw her through against top seed Elena Rybakina, who retired due to illness.
Under the center court lights on Thursday, Ruzic again showed the energy and skillset that beat Emma Raducanu and Anastasia Zakharova in the earlier rounds. The 23-year-old world No. 67 looked determined to seize her opportunity, grabbing a dominant 6-3 first-set victory.
But luck only holds for so long, and Ruzic’s early success seemed to stir her opponent, who awoke and wasted no time in responding to ultimately prevail 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
“Antonia played unbelievable in the first set,” Svitolina said. “I had to really find the small holes in her game. I was very happy in the way I could bounce back in the second. Then I think I finally found my game in the third.”
The world No.9 will now face Gauff, who she swept aside in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last month when she beat the American 6-1, 6-2.
