Saturday, July 6, 2013

Mavericks may be interested in Andrew Bynum

After swinging and missing on the premier free agents the last two offseasons the Dallas Mavericks are looking to piece together a roster to compete for a playoff spot and not waste the remaining years Dirk Nowitzki has as an NBA player.

One player they are looking at is former Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers (I guess) center Andrew Bynum.

After being traded from the Lakers last season, Bynum collected a large paycheck for providing zero services in Philadelphia.

The Mavericks are reported to be doing a thorough investigation into the health of Bynum's knee which limited him to wearing street clothes last season.

If Bynum is healthy and ready to go he could be the steal of free agency. If he signs with the Mavericks and he's damaged goods, Mark Cuban won't be hesitant to cut his losses.  

Pistons sign Josh Smith to a four year deal

The Detroit Pistons have landed their first free agent of the offseason as Josh Smith has agreed to a four-year deal that will pay him $56 million, a source has confirmed to ESPN.com.

Smith was one of the first players the Pistons targeted when they were able to begin speaking with free agents this week.

The 6-foot-9 Smith will join Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond in Detroit's front court and is expected to add a little bit of everything to the Pistons' lineup while providing some much-needed scoring punch.

In nine seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, Smith averaged 15.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 blocks.  He's a career 46-percent shooter.

Last season, Smith averaged 17.5 points 8.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.8 blocks.

Smith, 27, was the 17th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. He was a second-team selection to the 2004-05 NBA All-Rookie team and made the All-Defensive second team in 2009-10.

Smith explored other options but there didn't seem to be too much of a market for him.

I have my reservations about the signing since Smith has a tendency to want to take too many jumpers, but I'll let it play out before saying it won't work out

Teams can't sign free agents until July 10.