Ish Smith: A
Ish Smith is what Ish Smith is. He plays hard, he pushes the ball, he’s scrappy, and he’s unselfish. Unfortunately, he isn’t a great shooter and some physical limitations prevent him from being a lock-down defender. Considering he was brought in to be a back-up point guard this year, he exceeded most preseason expectations for him.
I would feel more than comfortable with him as Wall’s back-up next season.
Troy Brown Jr.: Incomplete
You might be wondering how a player who played in 61 games could get an incomplete. Simply put, I still don’t know what to make of Troy Brown Jr. after almost an entire season of play. He’s active, he pushes the ball in transition, and he rebounds well. Some games you could make a case that he has All-Star potential. Other games you don’t remember if he played or not.
To be a crunch-time contributor for the Wizards, he will need to knock down perimeter shots. He looked a lot more comfortable shooting them later in the season and got his percentage up to almost 35 percent. He will have to keep expanding on that part of his game to make an impact with next year’s starting unit.
At this point, he seems best suited as a secondary playmaker off the bench. Brown Jr. seems like a hard worker and a good locker-room presence so I think he can become more consistent and earn an “A” next year.