Washington Wizards: The backup point guard situation — Who stays, who goes

Should the Washington Wizards stick with Ish Smith?

While Raul Neto’s surprisingly successful season was his first in Washington, this was Ish Smith’s second season with the Wizards,  the final year of a two-year $12 million contract. The regular season was not good for Smith. A quad injury forced him to miss a sizable chunk of the regular season, and he only played in 44 of the Wizards’ 72 regular-season games. As a result, Smith saw most of his averages drop from the previous season, notably dropping from 10.9 points per game in the 2019-2020 season to 6.7 this past season.

Despite his step back in play, fans would often see Smith on the floor in the final minutes of close games when healthy, showing that the Wizards still had faith in the journeyman point guard. With the departure of Scott Brooks from the organization, it remains to be seen if the Washington Wizards still believe in Ish Smith. It does not seem feasible that, given the contract requests that will come from Smith and Neto, the Wizards will be able to sign both of them. They’ll have to choose between the two. Smith, who will be entering his 12th season, will likely be cheaper than Neto. But with Brooks gone and a new regime getting ready to take over, Smith may be out the door, too.