As a starter in this league, Ish Smith’s record is 31 wins and 85 losses. It might appear on the surface that he is a good point guard, and maybe he even is, but if your team is starting him, it’s probably only reluctantly. Or because you’re tanking (see 2015-16 76ers). He can get some nice-looking stats, but will never be the answer for any team other than as a backup, and maybe not even that (there’s gotta be a reason that he changes teams so much, and it’s not because he’s demanding trades).
The Ish Smith era in Detroit began when Reggie Jackson messed up his ankle, but the Ish Smith era was slightly disrupted by the simultaneous arrival of the Dwight Buycks era. If Dwight Buycks was being his usual unplayable, out-of-the-league self, Smith would get forty minutes per game and every night would be a 20/10 statline whether we wanted it or not. Instead, we have to settle for this lesser 19/10 statline, a season high in points, and wonder what would have happened if Ish had gotten forty minutes instead of 35 minutes.