Joe Smith (basketball)

Joe Smith
Joe Smith
Born	July 26, 1975 (age 51); Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player (retired)
Years active	1995–2011
Known for	NBA player for 12 different franchises; 1995 NBA first overall draft pick

Joseph Leynard Smith (born July 26, 1975) is a retired American professional basketball athlete. Playing primarily as a power forward, he competed for 12 different franchises in the National Basketball Association (NBA) throughout a career spanning 16 years.

Hailing from Norfolk, Virginia, Smith earned the distinction of College Player of the Year while at the University of Maryland in 1995. He was chosen first overall in the 1995 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors. During his rookie season, he was named to the 1995–96 All-Rookie team. Throughout his NBA tenure, Smith became known as one of the most frequently traded players, suiting up for 12 teams including the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, New Jersey Nets, and Los Angeles Lakers. His record for most NBA franchises played with was eventually overtaken by Ish Smith.

Before his college years, Smith attended Maury High School.

Collegiate career

Smith spent two seasons competing for Maryland, posting averages of 20.8 points and 10.6 rebounds as a sophomore, which earned him AP NCAA All-America recognition. On March 2, 1995, he achieved a personal collegiate best by scoring 40 points and sealed a 94–92 win over Duke with a decisive tip-in.

Golden State Warriors (1995–1998)

Selected first overall in the 1995 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, Smith was picked ahead of future stars like Kevin Garnett and Jerry Stackhouse. During his rookie campaign, he recorded a season-high 30 points on November 30, 1995, and secured a career-best 20 rebounds on January 20, 1996. Starting all 82 games that season, Smith earned a place on the NBA All-Rookie First Team and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.

In his sophomore year, Smith posted a career-high average of 18.7 points per game, ranking second only to Latrell Sprewell on his team. He reached a personal scoring peak with 38 points on January 8, 1997. Despite his efforts, Golden State concluded the season with a disappointing 30–52 record and missed the playoffs once again.

Midway through the 1997–98 season, after two and a half years with Golden State, Smith was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with Brian Shaw in exchange for Clarence Weatherspoon and Jim Jackson. This trade aligned with Smith’s preference to return to an East Coast team as free agency approached; notably, he declined an $80+ million multi-year offer from Golden State. Over his professional career, Smith accumulated earnings estimated at $61 million.

Minnesota Timberwolves (1999–2001)

Following a downturn in his performance, Smith remained an attractive free agent after the lockout in 1998. In an unexpected decision, he signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves at a salary below market value and spent two seasons playing as a small forward alongside All-Star teammate Kevin Garnett.

Timberwolves salary cap scandal

After the conclusion of the 1999–2000 NBA season, it emerged that Smith was involved in a salary cap circumvention scheme orchestrated by owner Glen Taylor and general manager Kevin McHale. Under this arrangement, Smith agreed to three consecutive one-year contracts each valued under $3 million, coupled with a commitment for a substantial future deal. This strategy enabled Minnesota to exceed salary cap limits by utilizing his "Bird rights" and facilitated further roster acquisitions. The anticipated long-term contract could have been worth up to $86 million.

The controversy came to light when Smith’s agent, Andrew Miller, departed from his previous agency and took on both Smith and Garnett as clients. Subsequent legal battles exposed the illicit contract structure. NBA Commissioner David Stern responded with stringent penalties: imposing a $3.5 million fine; nullifying all three short-term contracts along with Smith’s Bird rights; suspending Taylor from team operations until August 31, 2001; and placing McHale on unpaid leave until July 31, 2001. Additionally, the Timberwolves forfeited first-round draft selections from 2001 through 2005 (some were later reinstated).

Despite these sanctions, Minnesota achieved success by posting the best record in the Western Conference during the 2004 season and advancing to the Western Conference Finals.

Detroit Pistons (2000–2001)

After being waived by the Timberwolves, Joe Smith joined the Detroit Pistons for the 2000–01 campaign as a reserve player. He performed reliably and subsequently returned to the Timberwolves, signing a contract that extended through the conclusion of the 2002-03 NBA season.

Milwaukee Bucks (2003–2006)

In 2003, Smith was traded alongside Anthony Peeler to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson. During his three-year tenure with Milwaukee, Smith achieved career-best playoff statistics in the 2004 NBA Playoffs, posting averages of 13.2 points and 10 rebounds per game, although the Bucks were eliminated in the first round by the Pistons.

NBA journeyman (2007–2011)

Prior to the 2006–07 NBA season, Smith was traded from Milwaukee to the Denver Nuggets for Ruben Patterson. After appearing in only 11 games with Denver, he was involved in another trade that sent him and Andre Miller to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for former teammate Allen Iverson. Although not a primary option, Smith averaged over 25 minutes per contest during Philadelphia’s playoff run.

For the 2007–08 NBA season, Smith inked a deal with the Chicago Bulls, where he averaged more than 11 points and 5 rebounds per game on a squad that finished with 33 victories. At the trade deadline, he was included in a three-team transaction that sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On August 13, 2008, Smith was moved to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a three-team trade involving Milwaukee and Cleveland. This deal sent Milwaukee's Mo Williams to Cleveland, Smith and Milwaukee's Desmond Mason to Oklahoma City, while Cleveland's Damon Jones and Oklahoma City's Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin were sent to Milwaukee.

The Thunder attempted to trade Smith along with Chris Wilcox and draft rights to DeVon Hardin to the New Orleans Hornets on February 17, 2009, in exchange for Tyson Chandler, but the agreement was voided after Chandler did not pass his physical examination.

On March 1, 2009, Oklahoma City bought out Smith’s contract; he then re-signed with the Cavaliers two days later.

Smith agreed to a one-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks on August 25, 2009. On March 17, 2010, he became the 92nd player in NBA history to participate in 1,000 games.

On September 10, 2010, Smith signed with the New Jersey Nets. Subsequently, on December 15, 2010, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a three-team trade involving Houston. He made his Lakers debut on January 2, 2011, scoring his initial points two days afterward.

Coaching career

On June 9, 2015, Smith took part in a Phoenix Suns pre-draft workout session assisting center Alex Len. Although considered for a player development coaching position with Phoenix, he was ultimately not hired. Currently, Smith provides coaching services within the greater Atlanta region through CoachUp.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 82 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 34.4 || .458 || .357 || .773 || 8.7 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 1.6 || 15.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 80 || 80 || 38.6 || .454 || .261 || .814 || 8.5 || 1.6 || .9 || 1.1 || 18.7 |- | rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 49 || 49 || 33.6 || .429 || .000 || .769 || 6.9 || 1.4 || .9 || .8 || 17.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 30 || 6 || 23.3 || .448 || .000 || .788 || 4.4 || .9 || .6 || .4 || 10.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 43 || 42 || 33.0 || .427 || .000 || .755 || 8.2 || 1.6 || .7 || 1.5 || 13.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 78 || 9 || 25.3 || .464 || 1.000 || .756 || 6.2 || 1.1 || .6 || 1.1 || 9.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 69 || 59 || 28.1 || .403 || .000 || .805 || 7.1 || 1.1 || .7 || .7 || 12.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 72 || 63 || 26.7 || .511 || .667 || .830 || 6.3||1.1|| .5|| .8||10.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" |

| style="text-align:left;" | Minnesota
|54||21||20.7||.460||.000||.779||5.0||0.7||0.3||1.0||7.5
|-
|style = "text-align: left" |
|style = "text-align: left" |Milwaukee
|76||76||29.7||.439||.200||.859||8.5||1.0||0.6||1.2||10.9
|-
|style = "text-align: left" |
|style = "text-align: left" |Milwaukee
|74||73||30.6|| .514||0||0||7.3||0.9||0.6||0.5||11
|-
|style = "text-align: left" |
|style = "text-align: left" |Milwaukee
|44||5||20.2||0..475|||0|||5..2|||0..7|||0..5|||0..3|||8..6
|-
|rowspan=2 style = "text-align: left" |
|style = "text-align: left" |Denver
|11|||0|||13..5|||0..479|||0|||833|||3..6|||0..3|||0..6|||0..6|||5..1
|-
|style = "text-align: left" |Philadelphia
|54|||11|||25..1|||0..445|||0|||846|||6..7|||0..9|||0..6|||0..4|||9..2
|-
|rowspan=2 style = "text-align: left" |
|style = "text-align: left" |Chicago
|50|||35|||22..9|||0..466|||0|||807|||5..3|||0..9|||0..5|||0..6|||11..2
|-
|style = "text-align: left" |Cleveland
|27|||1|||21..5|||0..512|||0|||652|||5..0|||0..7|||0..3|||0..6|||8..1
|- 
|rowspan=2 style = "text-align: left" | 
|style = "text-align: left" |Oklahoma City 
|36|||3|||19..1||||454||||500||||704||||4..6||||7||||3||||7||||6|||| 
|- 
|style = "text-align: left" |Cleveland 
|21||||19..5||||496||||333||||750||||4..7||||8||||3||||7||||6|||| 
|- 
|style = "text-align: left" |

style = "text-align: left" 2009–10 Atlanta Hawks season Atlanta 64 9..3 399 143 813 2..5 3 1 3

|- 
rowspan=2 style = "text-align: left" |

style = "text-align: left" New Jersey Nets season New Jersey 4 3 6 250 000 000 08 03 00 05

|- 
    Los Angeles Lakers season Los Angeles Lakers                                                                      |- class=sortbottom

Playoff Performance

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999 | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 4 || 4 || 30.0 || .297 || .000 || .727 || 6.5 || 1.3 || .5 || 2.0 || 7.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000 | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 4 || 0 || 19.8 || .471 || .000 || 1.000 || 3.0 || .3 || .8 || .3 || 4.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002 | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 3 || 1 || 14.3 || .429 || .000 || .875 || 3.7 || .0 || .0 || .3 || 4.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003 | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 5 || 1 || 8.0 || .667 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.2 || .0 || .2 || .2 || 2.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 5 || 5 || 35.0 || .491 || .000 || .923 || 10.0 || .4 || .8 || 2.0 || 13.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 5 || 0 || 21.2 || .485 || .000 || .667 || 5.4 || .6 || .4 || .4 || 7.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 13 || 0 || 20.2 || .486 || .000 || .636 || 4.6 || .5 || .4 || .5 || 6.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 13|| 0||16.8|| .460|| .600|| .793||3.7||.2||.5||.5||5.5 |-

| style="text-align:left;" | 2010 
| style="text-align:left;" | Atlanta 
| 5||0||4.8||.000||.000||.000||.4||.0||.0||.2||.0

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | 2011 
| style="text-align:left;" | L.A. Lakers 
| 5||||||||||||||

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Overall Career 
| 62 |11 |17.4 |.451 |.375 |.780 |3.9 |.3 |.4 |.6 |5.4

|-

Music Career

During his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Smith produced a solo rap album under the alias Joe Beast. The project, created in Oklahoma City with producers Tommy Switch and Lorin Roberts, included tracks such as "Murda Kapital" and "I Does This."

External Links

TheDraftReview.com – Smith's NBA Draft History