Who Will Be The Sixers Starting Point Guard Next Season?

Apr 13, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ish Smith (5) pumps his fist in reaction to a score against the Milwaukee Bucks during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Ish Smith

Ish is going to be our first target of discussion, simply because we aren’t even certain he will be with the team when the season begins. He is currently an unrestricted free agent, and has yet to sign with the team, or indicate that much talks are going on between him and the team.

Smith is a player very similar to Mo Williams in the sense that they’re both kind of NBA nomads. Ish has spent five seasons in the NBA, but still has yet to find a place to get his true identity. He’s been tossed around from team to team, taking up a roster spot on seven different squads in the NBA.

There has not been a single year for Smith where he spent the entirety of the season with just one team. Of course, this traveling history leads us to believe he may not be coming back to Philadelphia, but it also could be taken another way. Smith is looking for a home, looking for a place to trademark his name. As he looks to become recognized as a good NBA player, what better place to do it than Philadelphia, with a rebuilding franchise?

After going from the Oklahoma City Thunder last season to the Sixers, he improved immensely when the Sixers offered him more playing time. He got an extremely significant 22 minutes more per game in Philadelphia, and did not take those minutes for granted. He pumped all of his stats up. Smith went from 1.2 to 12 points per game, and 0.9 to 6 assists per game.

Smith has the ability to hit some long shots, even though he shot just 30% from the three point line last season. He also only attempted 60 three pointers. I truly believe this was due to a bad shot selection, and if he could pick and choose which shots he should take better, he could up that by a lot.

Smith is constantly impressing me with his resilance of charging into the lane. No matter who is in there, he is willing to drive in and finish with contact from big guys in the paint.

Smith demonstrated this on fast breaks a lot, where he impressed me most last season. His quickness in conjunction with his willingness to challenge defenders worked very well. He also often had Nerlens Noel by his side to lob the ball up to, and that duo worked extremely well together last season. I’d certainly be okay with seeing more of that next year, too.

Smith has a lot to offer, but will have to re-sign (obviously) in order to claim the starting position.

Next: Isaiah Canaan