AUBURN HILLS – A season that began with great promise – a 14-6 start and stirring road wins at Golden State, Boston, Oklahoma City and Minnesota – ended short of the playoffs. For the second straight year, an injury to Reggie Jackson threw a roadblock to the postseason in front of the Pistons.
Since winning 44 games and giving Cleveland four tough games in the 2016 playoffs, the Pistons have endured two frustrating seasons tied to Jackson’s injury absences, finishing with 37 and 39 wins while Jackson missed 30 games with a left knee injury and 37 more with a severely sprained ankle.
But if Jackson’s injury cast a shadow over the 2017-18 season, the ray of light for the future was the acquisition of five-time All-Star Blake Griffin. It cost the Pistons Tobias Harris, pending free agent Avery Bradley and a first-round draft pick, but left the Pistons with a Griffin-Jackson-Andre Drummond core that Stan Van Gundy feels can push the Pistons toward the top of the Eastern Conference.
Almost every player who held an important role with the 2017-18 Pistons is under contract for next season. Over the next few weeks, Pistons.com will take a look at each of them and what the future holds.
PLAYER: Ish SmithPROFILE: 6-foot-0 point guard/29 years old/8 NBA seasons2017-18 STATS: 10.9 points, 4.4 assists, 24.9 minutes per gameSTATUS: Smith has one year remaining on the three-year, $18 million contract he signed as a free agent in July 2016
DID YOU KNOW?
The three-year contract Smith signed with the Pistons was the first time in his NBA career that he’s had a multiyear deal. Undrafted in 2010, Smith played for two teams in 2010-11 (Houston, Memphis), two in 2011-12 (Golden State, Orlando) and two in 2012-13 (Orlando, Milwaukee) before spending all of 2013-14 with one franchise (Phoenix). He split 2014-15 between Oklahoma City and Philadelphia and 2015-16 between New Orleans and Philadelphia before landing a three-year deal with the Pistons.
A LOOK BACK
Smith was part of a dynamic group of point guards that came through Wake Forest in a five-year period. In the shadow of Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, the Demon Deacons had Chris Paul, Smith and Jeff Teague from 2005-2010. Smith was a three-year starter for Wake Forest, coming off the bench behind Teague as a junior. Smith first seized a steady rotation role in his fifth NBA season with Philadelphia in the midst of “The Process” – the 76ers’ attempt to win by losing and amassing high draft picks. When Philadelphia acquired Smith from New Orleans in December 2015 and installed him as its starting point guard, Smith flourished, averaging 14.7 points and 7.0 assists over 50 starts. The Pistons came to a contract agreement with him in the opening hours of free agency on July 1, 2016. He’s started 67 games over the past two seasons due to injuries to Reggie Jackson in each season.
A LOOK AHEAD
While Smith’s strength is his ability to produce scoring chances in transition, he’s also become a proficient mid-range jump shooter who late in the season – at the urging of Pistons assistant coach Tim Hardaway – became a more than reliable 3-point shooter. A career 29 percent shooter from the arc, Smith hit 42.5 percent over the last 14 games on increased frequency, taking nearly half (47) of his season’s total of 101 3-pointers over that span. Smith will be 30 on opening night next season and while he’s shown no signs of slowing down – Smith has consistently finished at or near the top of the league in pace as measured by miles per hour since it’s been tracked – the addition of a 3-point threat will surely serve him well as he ages. If Jackson is able to stay healthy over the long haul next season, allowing Smith to serve as the backup, point guard will again be a position of strength for the Pistons.
MONEY QUOTE
“Another weapon that can hurt you in multiple ways, but it also gives us one of the best backup point guards back to the bench to lead that unit.” – Blake Griffin on how Reggie Jackson’s return to the lineup helped not only the starting lineup but made the second unit that much more potent with Smith at the point