A quiet week in NBA free agency was interrupted by a couple of notable deals Thursday, including Josh Smith's defecting from the Houston Rockets to join the Los Angeles Clippers team he helped defeat in the 2015 playoffs. Let's break down all the recent moves and what they mean.
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Josh Smith
Team: L.A. Clippers
Contract: 1 year, $1.5 million
What it means: The Clippers' charmed past 10 days continued Thursday as they signed Smith for the veterans minimum, the most they could offer him as a taxpaying team. According to ESPN's Calvin Watkins, the Rockets offered Smith $2.5 million to return -- the highest amount possible without dipping into their midlevel exception, which would have left them vulnerable to losing restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels. From Smith's standpoint, the difference in salary was just $500,000 because half of the amount he makes above the minimum salary for a one-year veteran is taken out of what he gets from the Detroit Pistons, who waived him last December.
