The Detroit Pistons were expected to compete for a spot in the NBA Playoffs this season. With Andre Drummond entering his third season, the hiring of Stan Van Gundy, and the additions they’ve made this past summer, many NBA pundits believed that it was Detroit’s time to finally make the postseason.

Instead, the Pistons are 5-23 and things seem to continually get worse in the Motor City.

Van Gundy made a shocking move today–waiving Josh Smith, who had $26 million left on his contract.

Along with Brandon Jennings, Josh Smith was supposed to help turn the Pistons’ franchise around. That hasn’t happened, and Van Gundy had seen enough. He finally pulled the plug on the Josh Smith experiment, and instead of trading him, he opted to waive him.

Josh Smith has already been linked to a number of teams, including the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, and Miami HEAT. According to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post, the Washington Wizards will not join the race for Josh Smith:

For the record, source says #Wizards aren’t in on Josh Smith. Houston or Dallas the likely destination. — Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) December 22, 2014

After acquiring Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair through trades and re-signing both Drew Gooden, Kevin Seraphin, the Washington Wizards don’t have room for any more big men. Although they’re not interested in Josh Smith now, they certainly were before–according to David Aldridge.

League sources list Milwaukee, Washington, Brooklyn as most diligent on Josh Smith, but Danny Ferry keeping cards close to chest… — David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) February 20, 2013

Times have changed, though. Josh Smith is no longer an elite big man. His shooting has been awful, to say the least, and his athleticism has begun to decline.

While Washington could use an athletic big man, Josh Smith’s negatives outweigh any potential positives he might bring to the table. Smith averaged 13.1 points, 4.7 assists, and 7.2 rebounds per game, but his shooting has left much to be desired. He’s making less than 40% of his field goal attempts, 24% of his three point shots, and about 47% of his free throws. That’s not very good.

Could Smith contribute in Washington? Sure. Players tend to get better when playing along side John Wall, but given the team’s fantastic chemistry, it wouldn’t make much sense to waive a bench player for another big man.

Detroit’s decision to eat Josh Smith’s contract was shocking, and it’s not surprising that he won’t land in the nation’s capital. Wherever he lands, it’ll definitely be fun to see how he bounces back following a few seasons of bad basketball in Detroit.