Should the Cleveland Cavaliers explore signing Josh Smith?

The Cleveland Cavaliers should consider signing veteran power forward Josh Smith.

It never has seemed like he’s lived up to his potential but Josh Smith is one of the best defensive big men in NBA history. Drafted with the 17th overall pick in the 2004 draft, Smith was a prep-to-pro product whose freaky athleticism had him turning heads and turning shots away from the rim.

14 years later and Smith has played 13 NBA seasons, spending his first nine with the Atlanta Hawks before briefly donning a Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers jersey over the next three seasons.

In his time with the Hawks, Smith averaged 15.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. He shot 46.5 percent from the field (12.8 attempts per game), 28.3 percent from three-point range (1.4 attempts per game) and 65.4 percent from the free-throw line (4.6 attempts per game).

He had a PER of 18.4, 47.6 win shares (35.1 defensive win shares) and a value over replacement player (VORP) of 27.6.

The 2015-2016 season, in which he played 32 games for the Clippers and 23 games for the Rockets, was the last season that fans saw Smith play meaningful minutes. He averaged 6.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.6 steals in 16.0 minutes per game. He shot just 36.4 percent from the floor (6.3 attempts per game), 28.7 percent from three-point range (2.6 attempts per game) and 55.2 percent from the free-throw line (1.2 attempts per game).

In that season, he had a PER of 10.4, 0.0 win shares (1.2 defensive win shares) and a VORP of 0.0.

That said, these days his offensive tendencies tend to crater his positive effect on the defensive end.

The Rockets and Clippers were playoff teams that season, like the Cavaliers are this season.

To be fair, the Rockets were being coached by interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff for most of that season after Kevin McHale was fired 11 games into the season. So Smith’s decision-making could be better under a more experienced coach.

Then again, the Clippers had Doc Rivers, a coach who has one a championship and Chris Paul, one of the best true point guards in NBA history. If Smith was unwilling to alter his approach for them, would it he do it for the Cavaliers’ duo of head coach Ty Lue and LeBron James?

James holds more sway than Paul and Lue might be able to connect with Smith in a way Rivers and Bickerstaff couldn’t. In fact, Lue was Smith’s teammate for four seasons with the Hawks, starting with Smith’s rookie season. Cavs assistant head coach Larry Drew was Smith’s head coach for Smith in his last four seasons with the Hawks.

Kyle Korver was Smith’s teammate with the Hawks in 2012-2013, his final season with the franchise.

That said, there are connections abound in Cleveland that don’t seem to have been present on other teams.

In any realm where social interactions are important, these type of connections are as well. Players and coaches will have more of an understanding of one another and have a better chance at reaching a solution that may not satisfy both parties but at least won’t result in on-court or off-court dysfunction.

Smith is a player with 1,713 career blocks, 27th in NBA history and 3rd among active players. His blocks per game average (1.9) is 25th in NBA history and 3rd among active players. His defensive box plus-minus (2.9) is 20th in NBA history and 3rd among active players.

All things considered, Smith has shown a level of defensive ability that only a handful of players in NBA history have.

With his veteran experience, athleticism and defensive ability, he should be considered for at least a 10-day contract for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the wake of center Tristan Thompson’s injury and the sudden onset of back problems for Jeff Green, which could linger.

The New Orleans Pelicans signed Smith in October, under their injury hardship provision, but the terms of the deal were undisclosed. Smith was released in November.

He appeared in three regular season games for the Pelicans and played a total of 11.4 minutes before being released.

In the NBA’s Summer League circuit, Smith appeared in three games for the Israeli Basketball Premier League’s Maccabi Haifa and averaged 17.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game while shooting 38.0 percent from the field (16.7 attempts per game), 22.2 percent from three-point range (6.0 attempts per game) and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line (4.0 attempts per game).

Smith spent last season with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Sichuan Blue Whales in China, averaging 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.0 blocks and 0.9 steals in 30.9 minutes per game. He shot 41.6 percent from the field (16.8 attempts per game), 28.9 percent from three-point range (7.9 attempts per game) and 48.1 percent from the free-throw line (5.2 attempts per game).

He’s an athletic player who knows how to use his body. He’ll jump passing lanes, get blocks, run the open court in transition and put the ball on the deck against bigger players (Smith is 6-foot-9) so he can use his athleticism to blow by them on the drive. His biggest weakness is truly his inclination to shoot outside jumpers.

Luckily, because neither Green or Thompson do too much jump shooting, Smith will be put in a role that asks him to make his plays around the rim when he fills-in for them.

That said, the two big issues with bringing Smith for anything longer than a 10-day contract would be getting him to buy-in to a small role (which will result in him being the 14th or 15th man on the bench) and convincing him to reel-in his shot attempts.

Nonetheless, Smith is a fitting option in all other senses.

He can protect the rim and defend the perimeter at least as well as Thompson and Green. He should be a great finisher in the pick-and-roll and a solid option on straight-line dribble-drives.

Lastly, he has 73 games worth of playoff experience should he be signed for the rest of the season.

*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com