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Finding a way to effectively use Josh Smith (right), Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe this season will be one of the biggest tasks for new Pistons president/coach Stan Van Gundy.

(AP File Photo)

Detroit Pistons fans might find it a little hard to believe since some thought Josh Smith was a bust last season during his first year with the club.

But ESPN.com projects Smith to be the fifth-best power forward in the NBA this season.

The website ranks Smith behind Anthony Davis of New Orleans, Kevin Love of Cleveland, Blake Griffin of the Clippers and Paul Millsap of Atlanta.

ESPN.com gave Smith a WARP – wins above replacement player – of 9.8. By comparison Davis' WARP was 14.3, Loves was 14.2, Griffin's was 13.3 and Millsap's was 10.3.

"Smith has enough of a track record that his 1.6 WARP disaster from last season doesn't wreck his forecast going forward," Bradford Doolittle wrote behind ESPN.com's paywall. "He's still just 28, and healthy, so there is little reason he can't return to his days as a double-digit WARP performer -- if used correctly. That means putting a stop to habits like finishing 17 percent of his possessions with 3-point attempts, even though he made just 26 percent of them. One thing saving Smith's outlook is his RPM profile; it actually was positive on the offensive end and was again well in the black on defense. Stan Van Gundy will figure this out."

One of Van Gundy's biggest jobs as the club's new head coach will be figuring out a way to effectively use Smith, Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe – providing, of course, Monroe re-signs in Detroit as expected – after the Pistons' big three experiment failed last season.

The trio never meshed and the Pistons missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year with a 29-53 record.

Smith, who was signed by Detroit as a free agent after spending the first nine years of his NBA career in Atlanta, led the Pistons in scoring with a 16.4 average to go with 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game.

But he shot 41.9 percent, including 26.4 on 3-pointers. Only point guard Brandon Jennings shot more 3-pointers than Smith.

Rounding out the top 10 in ESPN.com's list of power forwards were LeMarcus Aldridge of Portland, Thaddeus Young of Philadelphia, Serge Ibaka of Oklahoma City, Kenneth Faried of Denver and Amir Johnson of Toronto.

ESPN.com projected Drummond, who is playing for Team USA in this year's World Cup, to be the No. 1 center for 2014-15.

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