#7 Ish Smith
Ish Smith is a great backup point guard.
When playing with bench units, Ish is able to cut up the defense with his superb agility and vision. However, when thrust into the starting lineup, the flaws in his game start to add up. Smith is simply not a good enough shooter or defender to start on a winning basketball team.
Last season, the unfortunate reality regarding Smith’s ability to start came to a head.
When Reggie Jackson went down with injury, he was forced to start. According to Basketball-Reference, Smith actually spent the majority of his 2017-18 season in the starting lineup.
While he did bring some benefits to the starting lineup (mostly in transition), his lack of spacing and defensive shortcomings were ultimately too much to overcome, and the Pistons missed the playoffs under his guidance.
If Jackson stays healthy, expect Ish Smith to continue being one of the better bench point guards in the league. But if Jackson gets injured again this year, I think the team will look at moving Calderon to the starting spot instead of Smith, allowing him to continue playing where he is most effective.