RealGM

Who you got?

rj now

smith future

Smith brings so much more to the table then RJ does. He's a much better defender and can play multiple positions. And Smith is still getting better, RJ has basically peaked.

Richard Jefferson is currently 28 years old, so he has 4 years of his prime left. Josh Smith is 23 years old, and not even in his prime yet and is already an equal to RJ.

I take Smith, more versatile, 2 way player, and can play any style of game you want (up-tempo or half-court).

Richard Jeffersin is a vastly better half-court player than Smith so I'm not sure what you're getting at with that last comment...

Smith has much more potential than RJ though, RJ has already peaked... If you're a championship contender or hope to be one and are missing a wing player from the puzzle you easily take RJ over Smith since he's more polished, has a better basketball IQ, and is the better player chemistry wise.

If you're a young team like Atlanta just hoping to make the playoffs and gain some experience as your roster develops you'd have to be crazy NOT to take Smith.

Jefferson is the type of player who can fit seamlessly into any style of play, offensively he can carry you at times and act as a 1st option on offense but is really an ideal 2nd or 3rd option with the ability to score with or without plays being run for him... His three-point shot is also significantly improved on the season and better than Smith's... He's also better at getting to the line, which probably stems from the fact that he has better handles than Smith...

Basically in short, Richard Jefferson is a better, more versatile, more efficient offensive player than Josh Smith.

Defensively... I'm willing to give Smith the nod over Jefferson because of his supreme blocking ability that Jefferson can never hope to match... But the comparison is kind of hard since on defense Smith generally checks the opposing team's power forward while Jefferson is on the opposing team's best perimeter player.

Smith also hasn't played much SF this year or at least I haven't seen him play SF that much so it's hard for me to comment on whether he is still a worse perimeter defender than Jefferson...

On offense: RJ > Smith
On Defense: RJ < Smith (?)
In the Future: RJ < Smith
Now: RJ > Smith

edit: I forgot to acknowledge the fact that Smith is a much better rebounder than Jefferson...

^Good analysis.

I'm a Smith homer so I'm not gonna cast a vote.

Can someone tell me why RJ's defensive +/- is so poor this season? I know its an imperfect tool but his numbers are terrible. He is +8.9 on D, for comparison VC is -3.4 which is great for a perimeter player. Has Jefferson just toned down his effort on D because he has been playing so hard on offense this season?

RJ for now.

rj now
smith later

Right now it depends on what your team needs. If you need scoring then RJ is your guy, but if you don't need a big scoring boost then Smith is your guy. They also play two different positions so it's kind of hard to compare that.

Smith easily in another year or two.