Ish Smith and the 76ers are set to reunite.Shortly after 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 24th, the team officially announced that it had reacquired the 27-year old point guard from New Orleans. Smith began the season with the Pelicans, which obtained two future second round draft picks from the Sixers in return. Despite this year marking just the sixth for Smith as a professional, the Wake Forest University product has already played for nine different organizations in his career, and has been a part of 19 different transactions at the NBA level. He first landed with Sixers in February, following a release from the Pelicans, and went on to close out the 2014-2015 slate as a productive member of Brett Brown’s rotation. In 25 outings, he made 14 starts, averaging career-highs of 12.0 points, 6.1 assists, and 27.1 minutes per game. Smith produced eight games with at least 10 points, and eight helpers. Smith spent the 2015 pre-season with the Washington Wizards, but didn’t make the final cut. He was then claimed off waivers by New Orleans on October 26th, the day before the Pelicans’ regular season began. With Tyreke Evans sidelined due to a right knee injury, Smith stepped in to average 30.3 minutes over New Orleans’ first 17 games of the season, manufacturing 11.9 points and 8.1 assists during that stretch. When Evans returned in December, Smith’s playing time tapered off by about 20 minutes per game. Overall, Smith was averaging 5.7 assists per game for the Pelicans; however, his 12.0 assist per 48 minute rate stands as the sixth-best such figure in the league. To make room for Smith on their active roster, the Sixers waived Tony Wroten. Wroten was eight games into his third season with the Sixers, which picked up the 2012 first-round selection in an August 2013 trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. Wroten was sidelined for the Sixers’ first 20 contests this year, as he continued to recover from a right knee ACL sustained last January. For his Sixers career, Wroten generated 13.8 points, 3.0 assists, and 3.1 turnovers in 25.5 minutes per game.Throughout this season, Brown has said “pass is king” in respect to the top virtue he seeks in a point guard. Smith certainly fits that description. He has also proven effective in pick-and-roll offensive sets, which is an area the Sixers believe both of their top big men, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel, can be effective. On top of that benefit, Smith will bring another veteran presence to the Sixers, which have the youngest roster in the league. The Sixers are idle on Christmas Day, but will fly from Philadelphia to Phoenix later that afternoon. A five-game road stretch versus Western Conference opponents begins Saturday against the Suns.
