Stix played 22 minutes off the bench, finishing with a stat line of 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, 2-for-4 from the three-point line, eight rebounds, three assists, one block, and a game-high plus-24 rating when on the floor.
Smith’s game has always been described as one in which he’s a long, athletic stretch big man with an outside jumper. Picked high in the 2020 draft by the Phoenix Suns, with the tenth overall pick, Smith was expected to join the likes of Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton, who were forming a nice young rebuilding core.
However, Smith never really got a real shot in Phoenix to get consistent playing time to develop, especially after Phoenix drastically improved after a COVID-2020 bubble tournament run and 50-win season in 2021 that catapulted them into title contention.
Smith was later moved to Indiana during the 2021 season, where he spent the next three seasons developing into the high-energy, two-way big man off the bench who could play big minutes in key stretches of the game.
Smith averaged 10.2 points, six rebounds, and one assist on 53% shooting from the field and 35% from three with Indiana.
In the summer of 2024, Smith signed a three-year pact with the Bulls, where he now plays a key role in the youth movement the franchise has elected to pursue to climb back up the ranks of the Eastern Conference.
The 2025 season for Stix and Bulls has been an interesting one, to say the least. It began with Chicago subverting expectations, starting 6-1 atop the East. However, the team hit a rough patch, dropping five in a row and seven in another. But after winning six of the past seven contests recently, they’ve climbed back up the standings into play-in territory at the ninth seed.
It’s been a team effort, with not only the starters producing but the depth standing out, with guys such as Smith, another former Terp, Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones, Ayo Dosunmu, and more.
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