Chris Smith

New York ­- Chris Smith: Smith averaged 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 25 minutes per game for the Erie BayHawks in his first stint, shooting 50% from the field and 36% from three. Shame on anyone who bought the "not even D-­League calibre" hyperbole. He has however been used as a point guard, something that he just isn't, despite his height ­ Smith is a scorer, both a driver and a shooter, not a creator, and the 0­7 BayHawks record in his time there is partly to do with this. To make it in the NBA on merit alone, Smith will have to up that three point percentage, or improve his playmaking and pick and roll games to at least the level of Shelvin Mack.

This week, Adrian Wojnarowski posted an article about the Knicks' struggles that includes a fun quote about reserve guard, Chris Smith.

The Smith part, intended as an aside to the main article, has proven to itself be rather notable. It is notable because it is memorable, and it is memorable because it is said with such damning conviction in a style so forceful and a manner so derogatory, one that you just do not see used about specific NBA players. Smith, it is said, is not even good enough for the D-League, and, worse still, "maybe the worst player in the history of the [NBA] summer league."

These criticisms of Smith are exaggerated. It is true that he was given ample opportunity to perform in summer league and was very ineffective with it, but the conclusions the quotes draw for you are not proven by this alone, nor are they especially close to being ultimate proof. The quotes are a fun way of piling on to Smith, to accord with the narrative designed to make Smith - and, by proxy, the Knicks - look as bad as possible.

Smith is 26-years-old, undersized for his position, and below average in many facets of the game, yet he has decent speed and a good jump-shot with NBA calibre range. The last 100 or so players in the NBA are interchangeable with about 150 or so players outside of it, which is why they are all turned over so frequently, and thus many players either barely in or barely outside of the NBA. And even if it is only one, Smith has one NBA calibre skill which puts him vaguely near this conversation. He is not a nobody - he was a solid starter on a national championship winning team. It is not much, but it is something, rather than the nothing the anonymous quotes want you to believe.

That said, this core narrative - that Smith only has a roster spot because his brother J.R. Smith is on the team - is almost certainly true. This is particularly true in light of two important facts - firstly, Smith is not only signed to a contract, but one that has already become guaranteed. It became guaranteed on October 30th, and thus he is likely here for a while. And secondly, this is also not the first time this has happened.

Prior to all this drama, New York signed Smith much more quietly to a contract for last year's training camp. Like this year's edition, this contract was completely unguaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed only if Smith was not waived on or before November 1st - in actuality, Smith was waived October 25th. However, the contract he signed did not contain an Exhibit 9, a contract provision which protects teams financially when their unguaranteed players get injured. So when Smith injured his knee in training camp, the Knicks, by rule, had to pay his unguaranteed contract until he got healthy, for up to a maximum of one season.

With Smith missing the whole season due to this injury - one which was deemed to have been caused in the exercise of team duty - New York were thereby obliged by rule to pay him $473,604 in salary. It further cost them a $854,389 in luxury tax purely on that amount, meaning a greater than $1.3 million expense last year for a player that never suited up for them.

They will also now be paying him this year, and it is going to cost even more than previous reports suggest. New York owes Smith $490,180 in salary for this season (despite being paid for last season, Smith never spent a day on the regular season roster, thus he technically still has zero years of service and gets a rookie minimum salary), plus the subsequent luxury tax. Rookies or sophomores signed to minimum salary contracts are nonetheless regarded as being third year players for tax purposes - therefore, for tax permutations, Smith is treated as though he was paid $884,293. It is this amount that the Knicks are taxed on - with this season being the first of the new harsher luxury tax penalties, the Knicks, currently over $17 million over the tax threshold, are thus set to be charged $3.25 for every $1 dollar over the threshold that they are. In tax alone, then, Smith will cost $2,873,952, for a total cost of nearly $3.4 million, for a player they supposedly do not think is worthy even of the minor league.

All this is purely for the sake of a nepotistic favor to a player already costing them over $20 million himself after tax. So, is it worth it? Perhaps.

[more at the link]

In the backcourt, Preston Knowles (now a senior, and the only one on the team) is the leading scorer at 14.8 points per game. It is, of course, mostly done via the three pointer, because that is what Preston Knowles does. He has not developed into much of a ball handler - he just sticks to what he knows. Threes, getting open for threes, and defense. Sophomore Peyton Siva plays the point, and despite his age, he's already better than Edgar Sosa ever was. He is very athletic, has plenty of flair, good ball handling skills, relentless defensive pressure, the ability to get to the basket, the touch to finish when he gets there, decent court vision, and a willingness to share it. Louisville are third in the nation in assists, and Siva, with his 5.3 per game, is a large part of why. If he can now learn to shoot and maybe grow five inches, that's even better. (Behind him, pass-first freshman Elijah Johnson doesn't play much.) Also at guard, J.R. Smith's brother Chris Smith, a transfer from Manhattan, has become a vital all-around player - big, strong, aggressive, defensive, rebounding, facilitating, shooting, and basically playing nothing like J.R.