The Case For Ish Smith in a Detroit Pistons uniform!

Backup point guard is a position that has been on the Detroit Pistons’ fans minds since the team’s season ended back in April.

While the Detroit Pistons have no salary cap space to sign one of the big free agent point guards (Kyrie Irving & Kemba Walker), a lot of attention has been paid to the second tier free agents namely Derrick Rose and Seth Curry.

However, I’m here to make the argument for a different approach, one which would be contingent on bringing back one of Detroit’s most beloved backups the past few years, Ish Smith.

Although Smith did not end up having a good year statistically last season, he’s still ended up with the third best offensive rating on the team per NBA.com (110.8) behind only Andre Drummond and Wayne Ellington as well as the third best net rating (2.8).

His shooting numbers leave a lot to be desired, but that still doesn’t quantify his impact all over the court. His ability to play with an urgent pace is a nice contrast to the starting lineup that moves a little slower and his assist/turnover ratio (3.33) has him towards the top of guards who played as many games as him (56) and played over 20 minutes per game.

When the Pistons were good last year, so was Ish Smith. They went 33-23 in games where he played, averaging a net rating of 16.4 per 100 possessions in those 33 victories (118.2 Offensive Rating, 101.7 Defensive Rating)

Another reason to sign Smith is his likely lower salary demands compared to the other free agent guards on the market and more importantly his Bird Rights. The Pistons can sign Smith even if they’re above the cap (which they will be). The Pistons got Smith for 3 years $18 million before in 2016, they could find a way to keep that salary around the same without overpaying for a non shooting guard like Smith.

The team also has a non taxpayer mid level exception for $9.246 million and a bi-annual exception for $3.6 million to spend this off-season. In my opinion, bringing back Smith would allow the team to use those other exceptions to upgrade at other positions, especially on the wing.

Seth Curry will be in high demand with a lot of teams with cap space this summer, it’s possible in a guard dominated league he’ll make more than what the Pistons have to offer.

I’m also not in the position to defend a Derrick Rose signing, even with the ties to Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellum who drafted him in Chicago. Although his three-point shooting has improved to 37% last season, Rose has been an even worse three shooter than Ish Smith for most of his career and someone who relies a ton on volume shooting to be efficient.

Last year, Rose’s usage rate of 26% would’ve been number two on the Pistons behind Blake Griffin. I’d argue that his increased usage would be detrimental to guys like Bruce Brown or Khyri Thomas or anyone other young player you might try to develop on the bench.

There’s also a good chance that the Pistons will decide to take a point guard with their 15th overall pick during the draft. However, most rookies are not impact players their first year, so I don’t believe selecting one would automatically stop the team from bringing in a veteran at the position.

This off-season there’s a lot of wing players who have value that could be possible to get in this $9 million range that would be interesting. An interesting free agent to me would be Jabari Parker, the former number two overall pick who spent last season with the Bulls and to be kind, it did not go well. He made $20 million last season, but it’s possible the Pistons could get him with the mid level exception if the market has cooled on him enough.

But even if Jabari is not a realistic option, I could see Reggie Bullock being another cheap target on the wing or someone like Thabo Sefolosha could fit what the Pistons are trying to do. They need to find value in the players they surround Blake Griffin and Drummond, last year Sefalosha made $5.25 million and made almost 44% of his threes.

Not only do the Pistons need wing help, they still need a backup center behind Drummond. Signing a point guard with these exceptions takes away money that could be spent on a third big man who can make opposing benches pay. This team cannot afford another year of Zaza Pachulia as it’s third big man and until Thon Maker proves he belongs, bringing in some veterans will be necessary to their depth.

Smith is definitely a flawed player, but one who possess a skill set that’s still valuable in this league and whose leadership is felt on this Pistons team. He’s a proven veteran presence who exceeds in his role as a backup. Unless it’s a slam dunk upgrade via a trade, it’d be a mistake to move on from Smith for someone of comparable skill.