SVG shouldn't get any praise for dumping Smith. But he shouldn't be bashed for failing to make a trade either. All the available Smith trades were for equally large, bad contracts for other players. There's no guarantee Thompson/Landry would have been any easier to move, and in no trade scenario was Detroit receiving a young player with any potential.
This move does almost nothing for the team long term. If SVG was truly set on keeping Monroe, he would have ponied up the money over the summer (and btw, with the huge cap jump in 2016, wouldn't ANY contract have ended up being reasonable long term?) The team is still sadly devoid of talent and young players still aren't developing. Further, dumping Smith now probably improves the team, which could again hurt draft position for a team with no ability to compete this year.
It's been a depressing last half decade. Moving on from Smith means one less thing I can get frustrated with while watching games, but promises nothing sunny in the future. Maybe we can land Mudiay next year and end the Jennings experiment as well. But the more likely scenario is that we land another big man (there are 6 in the top 8). Obviously you can't choose your draft year, but it makes me things aren't getting any better next year.
