| Hornets Just Stung Themselves Authored by J.T. Magee - July 14, 2006 - 7:54 pm
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Smith will be entering his third year in the NBA. At only 20, he has tons of room to grow into the player he can potentially become, but only if he receives the right playing time. He may get around 25 minutes in Chicago next to Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon and Chris Duhon, but would he have received more minutes with the Hornets? Absolutely.
It’s a shame there was a falling out between he and Head Coach Byron Scott. Both wanted the same thing but went about it in the wrong way. When I saw Smith in Portland earlier in the year, he looked lackadaisical in his warm-ups. He would huck up 3’s and go up for sick windmill dunks. Basically, shots that he’d never attempt in a game. Scott wanted him to get focused and it took a little while, but Smith looked like he was going to shape up near the end of the season. Now that he is gone, where do the Hornets stand at the 2?
NOK either waived or are going to waive Arvydas Macijauskas. Although he’s one of the purest shooters in the entire world, his size on defense was the reason he couldn’t get much playing time. They just traded Snyder for the possibility to swap positions in the second round. It’s a shame a former Lottery pick is playing on his third team in three years. And now they dealt away Smith for a man who never wants to touch the ball on offense. Ever.
The only logical answer for these moves is they will shift Desmond Mason over to a more comfortable position for him: shooting guard. The way Mason was used last year was unfortunate. He was used in the post when he came back from his injury and it took a little while for him to get fully acclimated to everything in the offense. He has a lot more offense than people give him credit for and he can easily put up anywhere from 13-18 points at the two in any game. But with the acquisition of Peja Stoyakovic and David West finding he can score more points on the perimeter than the post, where will he get the ball?
The free agent pool at shooting guard is relatively weak, led by Bonzi Wells, Ronald ‘Flip’ Murray, DeShawn Stevenson and Kareem Rush. They could go after a cheap option, like Alex Scales, who has failed to fully land on a team. He has become a fairly complete player and can do a little bit of everything, but he has not received playing time at this level, so it’s hard to say what he can do in eight-15 minutes of replacing Mason.
When thinking about it, I like the fact Mason can return to the 2, a position he’s not seen minutes at since his days at Seattle. Even then, they were few and far between. But the Hornets need to figure out whether or not Mason is their future 2. He will be in a contract year, so expect the offensive numbers to go up. After next season, though, who will the Hornets go with? This could’ve been a great situation for Smith to play in, since the Hornets have decided to go more up-tempo, the style of play that fits his game to a T.
If the Hornets don’t find their answer by training camp, then the starting shooting guard is Desmond Mason. If they can land someone like Wells, then they’ll be set for a little while. But one thing is very clear: because of a small rift, the Hornets messed up their future. It’s a shame that Smith may not get the minutes he should in Chicago in 3 years. With the Hornets, he’d be averaging 20, 5 and 5 by then. I guess we’ll see where this takes them next season.
There’s still a lot of the off-season, but if the Hornets are thinking about building around Chris Paul, then they need to find a shooting guard to play alongside him for many years, not just a few players who are stop gates. Smith could’ve been that. Even Snyder was a solid complimentary shooting guard. Mason may be their answer for next year, but in 4 years, will he bring the same athleticism and instincts on defense to the table? Let’s hope so, because this could turn ugly for a team that is in a win-now mode with a point guard who is built for both now and the future. |
