Throughout his career, Josh Smith has been a versatile, do-it-all type of forward. Standing at 6’9, and with impressive athleticism, Smith has been an impactful scorer, rebounder and weak-side shot blocker, among other things. But some things that Smith has never been is a role player or good perimeter shooter. He has never shot above 33.2 percent from beyond-the-arc, but has averaged more than 1.2 three-point attempts per game nine times in his career (and at his current pace, this year will be his tenth). Only once has Smith shot over 50 percent from the field overall, which unsurprisingly was the last season in which Smith averaged less than 1.5 three-point attempts per game (2009-10). For years Smith has been able to overcome his shot selection issues with his ability to impact games in other ways. In fact, it wasn’t until his tenth NBA season (2013-14), and first season with the Detroit Pistons, that Smith had a player efficiency rating (PER) below the league average of 15 (14.1). A partial explanation for Smith’s poor play last season stems from the fact that he was playing small forward alongside Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. Smith has played both forward positions throughout his career, but he is at his best when playing power forward. Consider that in the 2009-10 season when Smith shot above 50 percent from the field (50.5), the average distance for his field goals was 6.5 feet, per basketball-reference.com. Unsurprisingly, Smith played power forward mostly that season. Last season, as a small forward, Smith’s average shot was from 12.5 feet, which was a career high. Smith shot a career low 41.9 percent from the field as he was systematically required to be a perimeter player. Read more http://www.basketballinsiders.com/n...ct/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
