Josh Smith injury: Forward active vs. Wizards

Stan Van Gundy was expecting to have Josh Smith off the bench on Sunday vs. the Washington Wizards as part of his plan to rotate Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Smith in the starting lineup during the preseason, but he may not have Smith at all.

Josh Smith sat out of Saturday's practice with slight groin soreness, leaving his status for Sunday's 1 p.m. ET tip in Washington in question. Groin injuries can linger, so the Pistons may not want to push it in the preseason.

We're only two preseason games deep, but there do not seem to be any signs of a Smith renaissance under Van Gundy. The good news is that if Van Gundy wants to run him from the bench, where he belongs, Smith's not concerned with it (yet):

"I'm not really necessarily concerned with it. I'm more so about winning than anything. I can only be the best player I can be under Stan Van Gundy's system and that's how I'm taking it. Whoever starts, it really doesn't matter to me. I know that I'm going to get a lot of playing time and a lot of minutes, probably finish a lot of games. So starting doesn't really matter."

We'll update as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: Josh Smith is active and will come off the bench as planned.