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Can Josh Smith Help His Team Anymore?

By Gerald Bourguet

Dec 29, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith (5) warms up before a game against the Washington Wizards at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 29, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith (5) warms up before a game against the Washington Wizards at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Josh Smith
Oct 29, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Josh Smith (6) shoots the ball during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 89-79. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /

What’s Wrong With His Game

There was a chance Smith’s game just didn’t mesh with the Pistons’ personnel because Detroit already had two bigs who needed to play in the paint, so having J-Smoove at the three just exploited his weaknesses as a shooter and his declining athleticism as a defender.

That being said, his time with the Houston Rockets hasn’t proven he still has something to offer, even on a team that’s playing him at power forward.

NBA Twitter — myself included — constantly makes jokes about Josh Smith taking too many long twos and even more three-pointers, but the shocking truth is that these jokes don’t even do it justice.

The numbers are all there for anyone to see. Smith is a career 27.7 percent three-point shooter. He’s never shot better than 33.1 percent from downtown for a season, which wouldn’t be so bad if Josh Smith were a rookie, but for a player who’s been in the league for more than 10 and a half seasons now, that’s unacceptable.

Need more evidence? In 2009-10, Smith took a career-low 0.1 three-point attempts per game in 81 games for the Hawks. It’s not a coincidence that in that same season, he shot a career-high 50.5 percent from the field and posted the second-highest PER of his career (21.0).

It’s bad enough that at the age of 29, Smith’s athleticism and shot-blocking ability are no longer what they once were. But you’d think a “veteran” would understand that at some point, his value to a team is on the defensive end and in the paint.

Next: Can He Contribute?

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