Get Smushed: Parker Leads Pack of Early Surprises
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Smush Parker seemed like the classic example of a career going nowhere fast. After going undrafted out of Fordham in 2002, he was picked up and cut by three different teams. In his rookie year, which he spent with a hopeless pre-LeBron Cleveland club, I watched him in a pre-game “workout” with Darius Miles – the two spent the entire warm-up period practicing dunks.
So when Smush was invited to training camp as an afterthought by the Lakers this fall, nobody would have been surprised if he had been among the early cuts and sent packing for the CBA. Even if he made the team, nobody expected him to play a significant role.
Instead, Parker has surprised everyone by taking over the Lakers’ starting point guard job and posting three 20-point games in the season’s first week. He’s also fit the bill defensively, ranking fourth in the league with 19 steals. While Smush won’t average 20 a game all season, it’s clear that he’s finally harnessed his talents into a productive NBA player. As a 6-foot-4-inch guard in a system that values size in the backcourt, he should continue thriving.
Smush isn’t the only player who has vastly exceeded our expectations so far. Let’s take a look at some of the other players whose play has caught our attention this year. Next to each, I’ve listed his Player Efficiency Rating (PER),which is my per-minute rating of a player’s statistical production. The league average for PER is 15.0,and as you’ll see, all of these players exceed that norm. (All stats through Wednesday’s games):
JOHN SALMONS, 76ERS (18.8) – A timid offensive player in his first three seasons, Salmons has suddenly become a potent sixth man. As the Sixers’ only quality backcourt reserve, he’s been encouraged to take the ball to the basket at every opportunity, especially when Allen Iverson is out of the game.
As a result, Salmons has stopped settling for long jumpers and is hitting 52.4% on shots closer to the basket. His development is a key reason Philly has won six straight games and provides a morsel of hope that the Sixers’ thin bench can survive if an injury claims one of the starters.
BORIS DIAW, SUNS (17.4) – If you had told anyone in Atlanta in the past two years that Diaw was a rising offensive force, they would have laughed in your face. In those first two seasons, Diaw’s physical skills were undone by an almost comic reluctance to shoot, but in Phoenix he’s been encouraged to get more aggressive. As a result, he’s a triple-double threat, averaging 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per 40 minutes. Plus, at 6-foot-8 he’s been able to play everywhere from point guard to power forward for the Suns.
LEANDRO BARBOSA, SUNS (21.9) – Diaw is one reason the Suns don’t miss Joe Johnson as much as they’d feared; Barbosa is the other. The Brazilian guard was miscast at the point the past two seasons, but this year’s move to shooting guard has freed him to look for his shots. It’s Barbosa, not Steve Nash or Shawn Marion, who has the team’s best per minute scoring rate, and he’s doing it while hitting 50.6% from the field and rarely turning the ball over.
SPEEDY CLAXTON, HORNETS ( 2 3 . 3 ) – Looking for a reason the Hornets have been surprisingly competitive thus far? Look no further. Though he comes off the bench, Claxton has been one of the NBA’s best guards through the first two weeks. He nearly leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) despite playing only 27.9 minutes per game, throws in five assists a night, and is a quality defensive player despite his 5-foot-11-inch frame.
MAURICE WILLIAMS, BUCKS (21.6) – The newcomers (T.J. Ford, Andrew Bogut, Jamaal Magloire, Bobby Simmons) get all the attention, but one of the secrets to Milwaukee’s fast start has been the play of Williams. Quietly accepting a move to the bench, he’s posting 22.8 points per 40 minutes and – get this – is 13-for-20 on 3-pointers. Included among them was a last-second bomb from several feet behind the arc to beat Indiana on Saturday.
DEVIN HARRIS, MAVERICKS (20.5) – Harris has been on my radar since he delivered a solid rookie season, and he’s built on that in a major way in his sophomore campaign. He’s averaging 23.2 points per 40 minutes on 56.9% shooting, numbers that have Mavs coach Avery Johnson carving out more minutes for Harris each night. Harris is still coming off the bench for now, but that could change sooner than you might think.
GERALD WALLACE, CHARLOTTE (25.6) – The Bobcats’ attention-getting blowout of Indiana on Wednesday served notice that they’re much more competitive in year two, and Wallace is a major reason. NBA general managers have egg on their faces after they were strangely indifferent to Wallace over the summer, because all he’s done so far is average a point every two minutes and shoot 56.6% while leading the league in steals at 2.8 per game.
TONY PARKER, SPURS (25.1) – The fact Parker can play is not news, but that he can play like this certainly is. He’s given up on shooting 3-pointers – he’s missed all four of his attempts this season – but more than made up for it by taking the ball to the basket with unusual authority. As a result, he’s averaging a team leading 22.1 points per game and shooting a sizzling 57.5%.
MIKE JAMES, RAPTORS (21.1) – Yes, even the most desperate of teams has their positive stories, and James has been one for the winless Raptors. A vagabond on his fifth team in three years, James shocked even his most ardent supporters this week with games of 36 and 38 points in a four-day span. He hasn’t been too shabby the rest of the year either, hitting 45.2% on 3-pointers and averaging 18.0 points per contest.
Mr. Hollinger is the author of the 2005-06 Pro Basketball Forecast.