The veteran point guard has redefined what it means to be a journeyman.
Veteran point guard Ish Smith is poised to set the record for the most teams played for in NBA history after the Wizards are nearing deal that will send him to the Nuggets, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Washington is reportedly finalizing a move that would send Smith and shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in a trade to Denver, as first reported by Charania. The Nuggets would send point guard Monte Morris and veteran wing Will Barton back to the Wizards in the deal.
Once the trade goes through, Smith would be joining his 13th team ahead of his 13th season in the NBA. If he appears in a game for the Nuggets, he will become the only player in league history to have played for 13 different teams, according to ESPN’s Matt Williams.
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Smith, who will turn 34 next week, split the 2021–22 season between the Hornets and Wizards. When he signed with Charlotte prior to the start of the campaign and later appeared in a game for the team, he joined Joe Smith, Chucky Brown, Jim Jackson and Tony Massenburg as the only players to play for 12 different NBA franchises.
The Hornets traded Smith and 21-year-old big man Vernon Carey Jr. to the Wizards in exchange for Montrezl Harrell in February. The veteran point guard finished out the season in the nation’s capital, but had already played for Washington from 2019 to ’21 so he did not break the NBA record at the time.
Smith’s professional career began way back in 2010, when he signed with the Rockets as an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest. He spent less than a season in Houston before he was dealt to Memphis, thus kicking off his journeyman status.
Since playing for the Rockets and the Grizzlies during his rookie year, Smith has gone on to play for the Warriors (2011–12), Magic (’12–13), Bucks (’13), Suns (’13–14), Thunder (’14–15), 76ers (’15, ’15–16), Pelicans (’15), Pistons (’16–19), Wizards (’19–21, ’22) and Hornets (’21–22). Philadelphia and Washington are the only two franchises that he’s played for on two separate occasions.
Although Smith’s penchant for changing teams might imply he’s not a productive contributor, that’s not the case. The veteran point guard has averaged 7.6 points and 3.9 assists per game over the course of his career, while playing in an average of 20.0 minutes per contest. Just last season, he tallied 8.6 points and 5.2 assists per game in 28 appearances for the Wizards.
While the Nuggets plan for Smith remains unclear, he should slot in well as a backup point guard behind All-Star Jamal Murray. If that’s the case, it’s only a matter of time until his name goes into the NBA history books.
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