William Hill: Thirteen teams in thirteen years, wandering Smith, championship is not everything.
If a player has been moving from team to team, he is in an awkward position in the league, where he has the talent and quality to get a job in the NBA, but he can't stay on one team for long. For Ismael Smith, his situation is much more complicated, and although he has made a presence in many teams, he can make a difference in any situation.
In Smith's 13-year career to date, he has played in 762 regular-season games and is the first player in NBA history to play for 13 teams. He is currently playing for the Nuggets, and last year he was with the Washington Wizards before being traded to Denver along with Pope.
To many, a player like Smith who can't stay on a team for long doesn't seem to have much value, but in the eyes of the teams he's played for, they think the opposite. Many teams recognize the role Smith has brought to them, and even for a championship-contending team like the Nuggets, Smith's role within the team is respectable.
Hornacek, who coached Smith in the 2013-2014 season, has a high opinion of him, and Hornacek believes that the reason Smith has been able to hold on for so long is that many people like him, when Hornacek was coaching the Suns. In Pope's evaluation, Smith is very professional, and Pope has played with Smith on three teams.
Smith entered the league as an undrafted pick in 2010 and played for the Warriors in 2011 with Curry and Klay as teammates, but Smith played only six games with the Warriors.
The season before he came to Milwaukee, Smith was playing for the Bucks. Smith also went through the "belief process" of the Philadelphia 76ers, who played for the 2015-2016 season when the 76ers had just 10 wins. Smith scored more than 20 points 16 times in a single season. In addition to this, Smith also played for the Pistons and Wizards at different times, as well as the Grizzlies and Thunder.
Smith once talked about his past, and his answer was to believe in fate. It's fair to say that in Smith's career, he's taken on every role. Early in his career, Smith would have gone to practice early, but he wouldn't be on the court, and then he would sit on the bench in a suit, because in those days, you had to wear a suit to sit on the bench.
Since then, Smith's career has been spent adapting to a variety of roles, where he can pass the thick eyebrows on the court and then average 11 points and five assists per game with the Wizards. And now that he's in a leading role on the team, many of the Nuggets' players will ask Smith for his opinion.
Smith comes from Wake Forest University, a place that has always been "abounding" with point guards, such as Chris Paul, but now it looks like Smith will be one step closer to a championship than Paul. Smith isn't particularly proud of that though, he's always been a very humble guy, on the pitch and in everyday life.
Smith has never complained about trading too much of himself, and he seems to have Xi this life, and every season in February, it's time for Smith to pack up and leave.
Smith certainly has his strengths, and his speed has been praised by Durant. And during their time with the Suns, they finished with a 48-34 record, which was the most surprising team of the year.
Smith said championships aren't everything, and he's enjoying his season with the Nuggets, and he thinks it's all fun. In his opinion, what he has experienced over the past 13 years has been meaningful.