J.R. Smith Is On The Rise

The 2004 draft brought into the NBA a few rising centers, in Emeka Okafor, Andris Biedrins, and Dwight Howard, as well as few guards, such as Kevin Martin, Devin Harris, and Andre Iguodala, who have all by now made a name for themselves in the league.

Each of these players has a distinct role on their teams and are respected by other organizations for their unique skills. To go along with the cream of the crop, the 2004 draft also brought in a few players who are on the rise as of now and ready to be known throughout the league. J.R. Smith is one of those players.

Drafted 18th overall in the 2004 draft, J.R. Smith was selected by the Hornets, who were in dire need of a solid rotation at the time. Smith started in 56 games his rookie year and was given around 25 minutes a game.

He contributed solid stats and was able to torch a few teams on a few given nights. Consistency proved to be an issue with Smith shown by his second season stats where he played in only 55 games total.

Apparently, Smith also had a few issues with his coach and was traded away to Chicago and later traded to the Nuggets. This trade could have been the spark J.R. needed to finally get his career on the road.

Although stats such as 13 points and two rebounds are not jaw dropping, J.R. contributes to his Nuggets team by giving them a spark off the bench to really get the offense going. His streaky jumper may not be money every night, but he has ridiculous athleticism to make up for it.

Now that the Nuggets have Chauncey "Mr. Big Shot" Billups running the point in Denver, J.R. may finally get opportunity to showcase his skills. Smith's defense, unfortunately, is one of those parts of his game that comes and goes.

There are flashes during games when he starts to gain momentum and really shut some guys down, but there are also parts of the game where J.R.'s defense is nowhere to he seen.

Now that it seems that the Nuggets are building a solid core group in Denver, J.R. just has to step up to the challenge.