Russ Smith will be on a plane Friday, but not to LA to join the rest of the Pelicans team for back-to-back match-ups with the Lakers and Clippers starting Saturday.
Smith will be headed to Ft. Wayne, Indiana where he'll join the NBA's Developmental League for several games.
Don't expect Smith's tenure in the D League to last long, but he could certainly benefit from some time on the court during an actual game.
The Pelicans 2nd round pick this year has only glimpsed real NBA game-action so far: playing in a scant 3 games for 11 minutes total. The results: 1 rebound and 4 turnovers.
It's a move that makes sense: Smith has promise, but he's not ready yet. He's not playing and isn't going to get better sitting and watching night after night.
This move will allow Smith to start sharpening and strengthening the skills that shone so brightly when "Russ-diculous" was starring at Louisville. During his college tenure, Smith was the Cardinals' top scorer in his junior year. He scored in double figures in all but four games last season. He was second in Big East scoring (18.7, 35th nationally), fourth in steals (2.1, 36th nationally), and eighth in free throw pct. (.804).
This time in the Developmental League should help Smith start ratcheting up all those talents that were on display in college and translating them to an NBA level.
