Source: Sixers Claim Ish Smith, Waive Malcolm Thomas

The Sixers have claimed guard Ish Smith off of waivers, a league source has told LibertyBallers.

Smith, 26, was waived by the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday after being acquired as part of a trade deadline deal from Oklahoma City.

After a 4 year college career at Wake Forest, where Smith averaged 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6 assists per night during his senior season, Smith went undrafted in the 2010 NBA draft. He was eventually signed as an undrafted free agent by the Houston Rockets.

Since then, Smith has played for 7 NBA franchises, bouncing from Houston, to Memphis, Golden State, Orlando, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Oklahoma City. He has career averages of 2.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per night, shooting 38.8% from the field and 21.6% from three point range in his 221 career NBA games.

Smith, who measured 5'11" without shoes at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in 2010, has always struggled with his outside shot, shooting only 30.1% from three point range in college. His calling card has been his speed and quickness, which allows him to play pressure defense despite his short height, and also forms the basis of his ability as a shot creator and a passer.

In order to make room for Smith, sources have told LibertyBallers that the Sixers will waive Malcolm Thomas. Thomas has not played since logging 5 minutes in the Sixers January 24th loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The claiming of Ish Smith was first reported by Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.