After failing to make the playoffs last season, Pistons owner Tom Gores made the call to change course. Ed Stefanski was hired to run the front office and his first big move was to hire Dwane Casey, reigning NBA Coach of the Year. The roster is set, a new coaching staff and front office is in place and training camp is around the corner. In the days leading up to its opening we’ll look at each player on the roster and assess how he fits into the puzzle for the 2018-19 season. Today: Ish Smith. Monday: Reggie Jackson.
ISH SMITH
ID card:30 years old, entering 9th season, 6-foot-0, point guard
Last year in review:Pressed to start 35 games when Reggie Jackson suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain in late December, Smith wound up playing all 82 games and averaged 10.9 points and 4.4 assists in 25 minutes a game. Smith thrived early in the season when the Pistons streaked to a 14-6 record as Jackson’s backup, leading a second unit that often sparked comebacks and big wins. Encouraged by assistant coach Tim Hardaway to become a 3-point shooter, Smith began taking more triples after the All-Star break and saw dramatic results as the season progressed. After making only 13 triples in 58 attempts over the season’s first 61 games, Smith in the final 21 games hit 22 of 53, including 10 of 22 in six April games.
Career at a glance:Smith spent four years at Wake Forest and went undrafted after his senior season in 2010. He played with Houston and Memphis in 2010-11, with Golden State and Orlando in 2011-12 and with Orlando and Milwaukee in 2012-13. Smith stuck with a team for a full season in his fourth year in Phoenix, then split 2014-15 between Oklahoma City and Philadelphia. He started the next season in New Orleans before being traded back to the 76ers once Jerry Colangelo assumed control of the front office at mid-season and altered course from a deliberate attempt to deplete the roster. Smith got his first multiyear contract when the Pistons signed him to a three-year deal in free agency in July 2016. He enters the last year of that deal this season.
Anticipated role: Smith has started 67 of 163 games in his two seasons with the Pistons. The only game he missed came midway through the 2016-17 season when Stan Van Gundy felt he needed a mental break to pull him out of a slump. Smith is ideally suited to be a backup point guard. His instincts to push the pace will give Dwane Casey a chance to field the game-changing type of second unit he hopes to find. Casey’s reputation for encouraging shooters and fielding an offense that produces open 3-point shots in numbers portends a continuation of Smith’s second-half trend of taking more threes and making them at a higher rate than his career norms.
It will be a good season if...: Smith logs another 80-plus games but doesn’t start in double-digit games – meaning Jackson stays healthy. Perhaps nobody is more of a known quantity for the Pistons than Smith, a durable player whose spirit generates a good vibe in the locker room and whose energy lifts the level of play in those around him. Casey’s benches in Toronto were among the NBA’s best as he seemed to be able to pull players off of the deep end and have them step in with confidence. If he can carry that ability over to Detroit, Smith’s effectiveness figures to improve as the level of consistency from those around him rises.