Smith attended Central Cabarrus High School playing under Scott Brewer. He averaged 24.8 points and 9.8 assists per game as a senior and led Central Cabarrus to a 25–3 record and a MECA–6 Conference regular season and tournament title, which earned him the Meca–6 Conference Player of the Year in 2006, all-conference honors and being named Piedmont Player of the Year by the Charlotte Observer's. When he graduated, he was ranked as the No. 28 point guard in the country according to Rivals.com while being rated by Scout.com as the No. 17 point guard and the No. 82 prospect nationally.
College career
Smith played college basketball for Wake Forest, finishing second all-time for assists in school history. In his four years with the Deacons he had averages of 9.2 points, 5.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.26 steals in 121 games. He also stands as the only player in school history with 1,000 points and 600 assists in his career. As a senior, Smith averaged 13.2 points, 6.0 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.68 steals. He was named Second-Team All-ACC and earned Second-Team All-District honors from the NABC. Smith also received the team’s Murray Greason Award and Team Assists Leader award after finishing third in the ACC and seventh nationally in assists per game in 2009–10.
Professional career
Early years (2010–2013)
After going undrafted on the 2010 NBA draft, Smith signed with the Houston Rockets on August 23, 2010. On January 17, 2011, he was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League. He was recalled by the Rockets on January 24, reassigned on February 1, and recalled again on February 7. On February 24, 2011, Smith was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies along with teammate Shane Battier in exchange for Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carroll and a future first round draft pick. Smith made 15 appearances for the Grizzlies in the 2010–11 season after the trade, all off of the bench. On December 14, 2011, Smith was waived by the Grizzlies. On December 16, 2011, Smith was claimed off waivers by the Golden State Warriors. On December 28, he started for the Warriors in a win against the New York Knicks in place of the injured Stephen Curry, scoring 11 points, with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Smith was later waived by the Warriors on January 13, 2012. On February 2, 2012, Smith signed with the Orlando Magic. On August 15, 2012, he re-signed with the Magic. On February 21, 2013, Smith was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks along with J. J. Redick and Gustavo Ayón in exchange for Beno Udrih, Doron Lamb and Tobias Harris.
On August 29, 2013, Smith and Viacheslav Kravtsov were traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Caron Butler. In his third game with the Suns, Smith produced a career-high 8 assists in a 104–98 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Smith matched his career-high in assists in a 116–100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on January 4, 2014. Smith became one of only three Suns backups since the 1980s to collect at least two 8-assist games in less than 20 minutes of playing time in a single season; the others being Jeff Hornacek and Goran Dragić. On February 21, 2014, he scored a then career-high 15 points in a 106–85 win over the San Antonio Spurs. On July 15, 2014, he was waived by the Suns.
On July 19, 2014, Smith signed with the Houston Rockets. However, he was waived by the Rockets on October 27 after appearing in seven preseason games. On November 7, 2014, Smith signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder to help the team deal with numerous injuries. Oklahoma City had to use an NBA hardship exemption in order to sign him as he made their roster stand at 16, one over the allowed limited of 15. After the team's hardship exemption expired, Smith was kept on the roster as the Thunder released Sebastian Telfair instead.
On February 19, 2015, Smith was traded, along with the rights to Latavious Williams, cash considerations and draft considerations, to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for further draft considerations. He was subsequently waived by the Pelicans later that day. On February 22, 2015, Smith signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. On March 2, 2015, he recorded career-highs of 19 points and 9 assists in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. The 76ers' offensive numbers demonstrably improved after acquiring Smith as their starting point guard, and Nerlens Noel referred to Smith as "the first true point guard I've ever really played with." On March 11 and April 1, he scored a career-high 23 points. He went on to average 12.0 points and 6.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per game for the 76ers in 2014–15, all career-highs.
New Orleans Pelicans (2015)
On September 25, 2015, Smith signed with the Washington Wizards. However, he was later waived by the Wizards on October 24 after appearing in five preseason games. On October 26, Smith was claimed off waivers by the New Orleans Pelicans and made his debut for the team the following day in the season opener. In 38 minutes of action off the bench, he recorded 17 points and 9 assists in a loss to the defending champion Golden State Warriors. On November 6, he recorded 8 points and a then career-high 11 assists in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Four days later, he recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 assists in a 120–105 win over the Dallas Mavericks, marking the Pelicans' first win of the season. He broke his career-high for assists for a third time on November 20, recording 17 points and 13 assists in a 104–90 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Return to Philadelphia (2015–2016)
On December 24, 2015, Smith was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for two future second-round draft picks. In his first game back for the 76ers two days later, he scored 14 points and helped the team record just their second win of the season with a 111–104 victory over the Phoenix Suns. On January 9, 2016, he scored a career-high 28 points in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. In that game, he scored 18 of the 76ers' 25 third quarter points. On January 18, he recorded 16 points and a career-high 16 assists in a 119–113 double overtime loss to the New York Knicks.
On July 8, 2016, Smith signed with the Detroit Pistons. This is the tenth team he played for in 7 seasons. On February 23, 2017, he had 15 assists off the bench in a 114–108 overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets, becoming the first Detroit player with at least 15 assists in a reserve role since Kevin Porter had 19 in January 1977. On February 3, 2018, Smith scored 25 points in a 111–107 win over the Miami Heat. He went 11 of 14 from the field and finished three points shy of his career high—his previous season high was 19 points. On October 20, 2018, he scored all 15 of his points in the second half, including the game-winning basket, in a 118–116 win over the Chicago Bulls. On January 14, 2019, he returned to action against the Utah Jazz after missing 19 games with a torn adductor muscle. He aggravated the injury in his third game back.
Washington Wizards (2019–present)
On July 9, 2019, Smith signed with the Washington Wizards. This marks Smith's 11th team he played for in the last eight seasons.
Career statistics
NBA
Regular season
Playoffs
College
Personal life
The son of Gwen and Larry Smith, he has three siblings: two sisters and one brother. Smith is a devout Christian with a degree in religion. He reads the Bible often and prays during the national anthem before games.
