Washington Wizards: 2016 Offseason Grades
Signing Smith
An imperfect deal for an imperfect player. Don’t get me wrong, a three-year, $16 million contract for Jason Smith is pretty fair value in this Scrooge McDuck-ian marketplace, but he might be a bit overqualified to be a third-string center.
In terms of pick-and-pop threats, Smith is one of league’s best suited centers. Actually, he was the league’s best suited player for pick-and-pop scoring, according to Synergy Sports Tech:
Jason Smith led the NBA in pick & pop scoring in 2016 just ahead of LaMarcus Aldridge & Karl-Anthony Towns. Made 49% of jumpers (mostly 2s).
— Synergy Basketball (@SynergySST) July 5, 2016
Unfortunately, outside of his pick-and-pop abilities (which only extend to the midrange, by the way), Smith doesn’t have many of the skills you’d expect from a seven-foot center.
He’s a dreadful rebounder (2.9 rebounds per game last year, 3.4 per game for his career), doesn’t protect the rim (0.9 blocks per game last season, 0.7 per game for his career) and hasn’t been able to extend his range to three-point land (25 percent last year, 29.3 percent for his career).
Smith is a quality third-stringer to have and his contract is hardly a concern, but this 30-year-old will only fill a minimal role in spot duty.
Grade: C
Next: Odds And Ends