Detroit Pistons: Will Pistons strike gold with two-way contracts again?

Detroit Pistons: Two-way player Chris Smith has high upside talent

If you are not sure who Chris Smith is, you are not alone. The senior wing out of UCLA was not drafted after being injured early in the season and his two-way signing went under the radar.

I was actually surprised that the Detroit Pistons didn’t save one of their two-way deals for Deividas Sirvydis, but Chris Smith has more upside, especially on the defensive end.

Smith is a plus athlete with great size at 6-foot-9 and also has a very quick first step that will allow him to beat bigger defenders off the dribble.

Unfortunately for Smith, he tore his ACL in January after only eight games and had to miss the remainder of his senior season. He is still only 21-years-old even though he is an upperclassman and is expected to make a speedy recover from his injury.

Before he got hurt, Smith was averaging 12.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, two assists and had hit 50 percent of his 3-point shots, albeit on a low number of attempts.

Smith is not going to shoot 50 percent from long range, but he does profile as a guy who will be a solid 3-and-D type wing in the future.

We know Troy Weaver likes players with big wingspans who can defend multiple positions, and Smith should be able to do that. If his 3-point shot continues to improve, he could definitely make an impact on a team that still lacks shooting, especially off the bench.

I expect that Chris Smith will start the season in the G-League but the Pistons don’t have a ton of depth at small forward, so if someone gets hurt or plays poorly, we could see him at some point this season.