Ish Smith is a Temporary Savior For Sixers

Although Ish Smith is impacting the Philadelphia 76ers positively this season, he may not be a tool to use for the long run.

The Philadelphia 76ers season has been looked at in two different mindsets: Before acquiring Ish Smith, and after acquiring Ish Smith. Smith was with the team last season–and did well–and even trained for a while with the team this summer. But the team opted to let him seek out other options, and ultimately, he ended up playing for the injury plagued backcourt with the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Sixers looked to use other backcourt options–Kendall Marshall, Tony Wroten–instead of Smith, and hope for the same facilitation and scoring that Smith brought to the team last season. This would ultimately not work, as the Sixers went 1-30 before acquiring Smith.

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Smith came in and was the only guard that was able to do more than just score or pass. He could do both, and he did it while kicking up the pace for the Sixers offense. He’s been called the savior of the Sixers.

I’m not arguing that statement, that he is the savior. This season, he’s been nothing short of that. Since coming to the team, he’s led them to higher assist numbers, lower turnovers, higher points per game, and a better offensive rating. I don’t believe, however, that he is the long-term solution in the point guard spot.

First of all, we have to realize that Ish Smith isn’t neccesarily good league-wide just because he’s making the Sixers better. With any player on the Sixers roster, we have to evaluate whether or not they are “Sixers good” or “NBA good.” While most would argue that Smith is league-wide good, his nine teams in five seasons leads me to believe not many teams have enough trust in him. I do think that he’s a good player, but I’m not sure he’s neccesarily the long-term answer for any team.

He’s kind of like a Mo Williams. A pretty consistently good scorer and passer, but not really a solid long-term player. Williams filled the gap for the Charlotte Hornets last year when Kemba Walker was out with injury, and did so nicely. Just like he normally does, he found his way on a different team in the offseason. The nomads don’t ever stay in one place, and I don’t think Smith will be in Philly for very long.

That’s not to say he doesn’t want to be here, it’s just that Sam Hinkie probably won’t want to pay for what he believes he is worth to this team, when he could find a replacement for him for cheaper, or a better guard at a slightly higher value.

And there are better guards than him. When I think about great, elite point guards in the NBA, I think of guys like John Wall, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul. We could even throw Kyle Lowry on that list as well. Ish Smith doesn’t get grouped with those guys in any conversation. He’s almost like a knockoff version of John Wall.

According to Hollinger’s NBA stats, Smith ranks 17th overall among point guards around the league, putting him in the bottom 50%.

The whole Sixers plan is all about bringing in players to be competitive, and tapping into high ceilings for the players they plan to keep. With Smith as the starter, their overall ceiling is much lower than it would be with an elite point guard.

The Sixers are going to pay a point guard a lot of money down the road if they want to be competitive in the playoffs. That point guard will not be Ish Smith. Smith is a solid component to this team that keeps them from being historically bad, but is certainly not a player that I can see leading the team into the playoffs, and certainly not to a championship.