Ish Smith
Ish Smith has become somewhat of a fan favorite in Detroit…
That is until he’s forced to play starting minutes or even start at all in place of Reggie Jackson. Smith, throughout his three years in Detroit, has struggled to heavily when asked to play heavy minutes for the Pistons.
This is something that Casey had Smith doing a lot this past year, which must be an indictment of what Casey thinks of Jackson as a player. Nevertheless, running it back with Smith has your backup point guard doesn’t seem ideal.
Smith is a player who needs the ball in his hands and tends to over-dribble a lot. This was especially exposed this year after everyone in the city of Detroit wanted Luke Kennard to have more ball-handling duties off the bench.
100 percent don’t think that’s by design.
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) April 21, 2019
This was a problem that rose even more in the Playoffs, especially in games three and four. Kennard was arguably the Pistons best player on the court the first two games, and it behooved a lot of fans that Smith was still dominating the ball and taking so many shots.
Smith is also an awful three-point shooter, shooting 30 percent on his career and 32 percent this year. This makes it even harder to envision how Smith could really affect the game off-ball with Kennard coming off the bench.
With Smith’s contract expiring, it would be wise for the Pistons to move on from their energizer bunny and bring in someone who better fits what they need.